Family and Staff Help Resident Celebrate 102nd Birthday

Bupa Care Services Press releases

An Edinburgh-born woman has celebrated her 102nd birthday at the care home her family thank for helping her reach the impressive milestone.

Elizabeth Brown has been living at Bupa’s Pentland Hill Care Home in the Corstorphine area since 2006, after a series of falls left her unable to live independently.

Her immediate family, including nieces Norma McVey and Maureen Murray and nephew Joe McVey and his wife Kate believe that without the round-the-clock care from staff at the home their aunt would not have led such a fulfilling – and long – life.

Elizabeth celebrated her 102nd birthday on April 1 with her nieces, nephew, friends and carers at Pentland Hill Care Home.

Elizabeth grew up in Edinburgh and attended York Place School before starting her working life at the city’s once-famous Crawford’s bakery.

She then married her postman husband, James Brown in 1938 – who died in 1996 – and went on to have two sons; the oldest, 74-year-old John, now lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his wife Sheila, while James died in 2004.

Elizabeth has three grandchildren, Cameron, Fiona and Matthew and three great grandchildren, Aiden, Fraser and Oscar, all living in Australia – John and Sheila visit Elizabeth as often as possible and grandson Matthew is due to fly to Edinburgh for a visit in July. She also has an 88-year-old sister Rita who lives in Canada.

In addition to frequent visits from friends and family, Elizabeth puts her love for dancing and socialising as the reason for her long-life, something Pentland Hill Care Home encourages as much as possible.

Niece Norma, who also lives in Edinburgh said: “Seeing Elizabeth reach the grand age of 102 is just fantastic. From the point of view of myself and the family, my aunt wouldn’t be reaching this milestone if she wasn’t getting good care.

The staff dedicate so much time to Elizabeth and I think it’s thanks to this consistent, stable environment that she is doing so well.

Her eye-sight and hearing are not too great anymore but the staff at Pentland Hill bring out the best in her.

It’s not just the care they provide but the fact that they go above and beyond their role as carers and take time to speak and engage with her. Some of the staff who have left over the years even come back to visit her.

Her husband died in 1996 so having staff and other residents like this so close to my aunt really helps as she feels comfortable and looked after.

Maggie White, home manager at Bupa’s Pentland Hill Care Home, said: “We are delighted to be part of Elizabeth’s birthday celebrations. It’s great to see families and residents benefit from the care we provide and appreciate how we strive to change people’s lives for the better.

Elizabeth is a joy to have in the home. She loves nothing more than having a wee banter; she a has a quirky sense of humour and always makes the carers laugh. She also loves listening to music so we always make sure she has a great seat when we have live musicians in to entertain all the residents.

We look forward to celebrating further birthdays with Elizabeth here at Pentland Hill Care Home.”