A CHARD resident has celebrated her centenary birthday in style with guests of honour and cards from parliament.

Winnie Gray recently had her 100th birthday at Sunnyside Care Home, where she has been a resident since moving there from Derbyshire in 2012.

Donnie Brown, the manager at Sunnyside, said: “It went very very well, she didn’t stop smiling all day.

“She had no idea the mayor was coming and she had an unexpected visit from her son who lives in the north.

“She also had visits from her grandson who she had not seen for a while and from old neighbours .

“She was ecstatic to receive her card from the Queen.

“She couldn’t believe that the Queen had sent her a card.

“She also had a telegram from the minister for pensions so she was more excited by that.

“The Mayor, Dave Bulmer, stayed all afternoon and joined in with the party.

“Winnie is unbelievable for a 100 year old.

“She is always contented and always smiling. She lives in a first floor room and four out of five times she will use the stairs because it keeps her fit. You would never think she was 100 years old.

“She used to have a team of a lot of girls that she used to be in charge of and she always looks back fondly on that time. She used to work with money and she has quite a head on her for figures, even now.”

Mrs Brown gave special thanks to the mayor of Chard, Cllr Dave Bulmer, who also visited them at Christmas.

She added: “He is an amazing person. He came out a Christmas and he was more than happy to come out again. The fact he stayed for the whole party just made the day that bit more special for Winnie.”

Sunnyside is a privately owned residential home with 13 residents over 65 years of age. In the latest CQC report, which was carried out in September 2015, the home was rated good across all areas.