105-year-old Horndean resident reveals secret to a long life on milestone birthday

 

A 105-year-old Horndean care home resident has revealed her secret to living a long and happy life – “eat humbugs and drink tea!” 

Dorothy Creighton, a resident at Care UK’s Pear Tree Court on Portsmouth Road, shared her unusual advice to mark yet another milestone birthday, while celebrating with those nearest and dearest to her.  

In commemoration of Dorothy’s special day, the team at Pear Tree Court organised a family get together in the home’s bar area with a cake, balloons and afternoon tea. 

Dorothy was born on 11^th September 1919 in Bristol. One of three, Dorothy finished school and began her first job working as a hairdresser. When World War Two broke out, Dorothy joined the land army, which was where she met her soon-to-be husband.  

The couple went on to have two daughters and a son, along with many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Dorothy moved into Pear Tree Court in 2023, where she enjoys chatting to everyone around her and regularly visiting the home’s sweet cart and coffee shop. 

She was thrilled to be surrounded by friends and team members as they came together to celebrate her momentous birthday. 

When asked for her secret to living a long life, Dorothy said: “Eat humbugs, drink tea and don’t stress – bad things will go away.”

Aimee Sparks, Home Manager at Pear Tree Court, added: “We were so excited to celebrate such a joyous day with Dorothy. As a much-loved resident at Pear Tree Court, it was amazing to mark this tremendous milestone with her and hear her very unique advice for living a long and happy life.

“Here at Pear Tree Court, we centre everything we do around our ethos of ensuring residents live active and fulfilling lives – and Dorothy’s 105^th birthday celebration was no exception. It was lovely to see how happy she was to be surrounded by those closest to her on the day.”

Pear Tree Court is a state-of-the-art care home which provides full-time residential, nursing and dementia care, as well as short-term respite care. Designed to enable residents to live enjoyable and fulfilling lives, the care home has its very own cinema and hair salon, and there is plenty of space both indoors and out for relaxation and recreation.