Appeal for 100 cards to mark Jean’s 100th birthday

AN APPEAL for 100 birthday cards to mark Huddersfield resident Betty “Jean” Testa’s 100^th birthday has been issued by the care home where she lives.

Staff at Longroyds and Pilling House Care Home, in Skelmanthorpe, Huddersfield, are hoping to receive one card for each year of Jean’s centenary.

Born in London on 20^th July 1920, Betty has lived in West Yorkshire for the past 10 years, moving into the care home in February 2017.

She left the capital to be closer to her granddaughter, in Holmfirth. Jean has three grandchildren, all sisters, with two living in Devon.

Jean worked as a dress maker when she left school, following her passion for sewing.

One of Jean’s earliest memories was her house being hooked up to the electricity grid, allowing her to swap candles for lightbulbs.

She said: “I was amazed when I first had electricity. I used to take a candle to bed and had oil lamps to light the house but then I could just turn on the lights with a switch.”

Alongside the birthday card appeal, Jean will be marking her 100^th year with a party at the care home, complete with homemade birthday cakes and birthday banners donated by the Waterloo branch of Morrisons.

Hawthorns Private Day Nursery, on Station Road, will also be visiting to sing happy birthday to Jean through the window.

Daniel Sheard, home manager at Longroyds and Pilling House Care Home, said: “Everyone at the care home is looking forward to marking Jean’s 100^th birthday.

“Jean doesn’t have many family members, so our senior carer Joanne Fisher came up with the idea of an appeal for birthday cards, which she put on Facebook.

“The response we’ve had so far has been amazing, with support from local bakers offering to make homemade birthday cakes, nursery children offering to sing happy birthday and the Kirklees Mayor video calling to pass on his well wishes.

“We’re sure she’ll have a lovely day but if anyone else would like to send a birthday card they would be hugely appreciated.”

Birthday cards can be sent to Jean Testa, Longroyds and Pilling House Care Home, Pilling Lane, Skelmanthorpe, Huddersfield, HD8 9EQ.