Shrewsbury care home resident shares secret to long life on 100th birthday

 

A 100-year-old Shrewsbury care home resident has shared her advice for living a long and happy life – “plenty of exercise and good friends”.

Iris Catchpole, a resident at Care UK’s Oxbow Manor, on Oteley Road, shared her valuable advice to mark her newly minted centenarian status, while celebrating with those nearest and dearest to her. 

In honour of Iris’ milestone birthday, a lively celebration with balloons, banners and a delicious cake was organised by her family and team members at Oxbow Manor.

Iris was born on 27^th November 1924. She has lived all over the country – having grown up in Newcastle, before moving to London and then relocating to Manchester during World War II. 

Later, Iris married her sweetheart Alan Catchpole, and the couple lived in Shepherd’s Bush before buying their first home in Ruislip.

The family then relocated to Whitley Bay in Northumberland, where they made many happy memories together. Iris and Alan were married for more than 60 years and were blessed with two children and two grandchildren.

Former nursery teacher Iris is known by everyone at Oxbow Manor for her strong interest in people and their family. A keen cook, she has always been a creative person and enjoys doing arts and crafts. Iris was thrilled to be surrounded by friends, family and team members as they came together to celebrate her momentous birthday. 

When asked what her secret was to living a long life, Iris said: “Plenty of exercise, good friends and always being nice.”

Donna Howard, Home Manager at Oxbow Manor, said: “Iris is a warm lady and has the uncanny knack of extracting a person’s entire life story within five minutes of meeting them.

“As a much-loved resident at Oxbow Manor, it was wonderful to mark this tremendous milestone with her and hear her very good advice for living a long and happy life.

“Here at Oxbow Manor, everything we do is centered around our ethos of ensuring residents live active and fulfilling lives – and Iris’ 100^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.”

Oxbow Manor 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 home has its very own cinema, café and hair salon, and there is plenty of space – both indoors and out – for relaxation and recreation.