Gran, 100, who is NHS’s oldest volunteer honoured by King
Beryl Carr began volunteering in her 80s to meet new people after her husband died.
A 100-year-old volunteer is set to be awarded the British Empire Medal for her work at the NHS.
Grandmother-of-one Beryl Carr, who will turn the grand age of 101 next week, is believed to be the health service’s oldest volunteer.
She made a name for herself after taking on a four-hour-a-week cashier role at Friends’ Café at Ealing Hospital, London.
It is her twentieth year of volunteering after she first joined in 2003 to meet new people following her husband’s death.
The British Empire Medal is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown.
The Prime Minister recommended Beryl for the honour, which she will receive later this year.
‘It was a real whirlwind last year and this is a lovely way to finish it all before getting back to normal’, the pensioner told MyLondon.
The centenarian previously shared her secret to a long life, saying: ‘Everything in moderation! But I’m also just very lucky.’
Born in 1922 in Acton, she lived through World War II after spending most of her childhood in Ealing.
In her effort to help Britain and the allies win, she spent time fire-watching and stitching barrage balloons that would prevent enemy planes from being able to fly too low.
She later lived in Cambridgeshire with her husband, but moved back to Ealing to be close to her daughter Val when her partner died.
After realising she was ‘alone and knew nobody’, she joined the cafe in 2003 for some social time.
While Beryl might be the NHS’s oldest volunteer, it doesn’t look like she will be slowing down anytime soon.
Admitting her worst nightmare is spending all day in front of the TV, she added: ’The answer is to keep moving, otherwise you just stagnate sitting in a chair. My limbs all still move fine.’
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