100-year-old care home resident becomes the face of Channel 4 in celebration of votes for women

Company news

Feb 13, 2018

A 100-year-old lady from Halstead in Essex is one of three centenarians featured in a series of clips on Channel 4 to commemorate 100 years since women won the right to vote.

Margaret Warburton, who lives at Care UK’s Colne View care home, celebrated her milestone birthday on 15 November 2017. She is one of three women to have been selected by Channel 4 and filmed for a series of conversational pieces that were aired during the week 4-9 February.

Margaret grew up in Cardiff and Grimsby before moving to Leith in Scotland, where she worked as a counter assistant at Woolworths. She moved to Colne View in May 2017 and is one of the home’s most active residents, despite being one of the oldest. Her hobbies include playing the piano, swimming and listening to her iPod.

Researchers from Channel 4 saw photos from Margaret’s 100^th birthday celebrations at the Care UK home and were keen to know more about the remarkable lady. She was later selected along with two other centenarians, having been whittled down from 80 hopefuls across the country.

In the commemorative clips, Margaret can be seen playing her beloved piano to the tune of The Simpsons theme song, speaking about her memories of winning the vote, and introducing some of Channel 4’s most popular shows, including The Secret Life of Five Year Olds.

Audrey Joslin, home manager at Colne View, said: “We were absolutely delighted when Channel 4 contacted us wanting to speak to Margaret. She is such a character at Colne View so it’s no surprise to us she was chosen above many other worthy 100 year olds to take part in the celebrations.

“Margaret often keeps the Care UK team and residents at Colne View entertained with her piano performances and talks fondly of her memories growing up at a momentous time for women in Britain. We have all been gathering round the television at the home to watch our very own superstar and all agree she did a fantastic job – she’s a natural!”

Speaking about the experience, Margaret said: “I was honoured to have been chosen to be part of Channel 4’s celebrations. I never thought I would be making my TV debut at the age of 100!

“I had lots of fun and it was great to have the opportunity to play my piano to a national audience – something I never thought I’d be able to do, especially not at my age!”