Incredible Beryl Carr says she cant imagine anything worse than just sitting in front of the TV all day and loves to still get out and about
A truly remarkable 103-year-old woman who still gives her time to work for free in a West London hospital café has been named the world’s oldest female volunteer. Beryl Carr helps out one day a week at the Friends Café in Ealing Hospital where she works as a cashier and loves making sandwiches.
Beryl began her hospital role as an energetic 81-year-old in 2003, preparing meals and operating the till. Following more than 20 years of dedication, Beryl has now been recorded in the online Guinness Book of Records.
Born in Acton in 1922, Beryl grew up with her two brothers and sister in Ealing, before eventually moving to Cambridgeshire with her husband. She moved back to Ealing to be close to her daughter Val after the death of her husband and this sparked the idea of volunteering.
“I moved back to Ealing and I was alone,” Beryl previously told MyLondon. “I didn’t know anyone and my daughter said I should try volunteering. I came for the interview, said I would do whatever they needed, and I have been here ever since. I would recommend it to anyone.”
Drawn to the café’s social atmosphere, Beryl said: “It’s a lovely community.” During her time at the café, the grandmother has worked as a cashier, occasionally lending a hand making sandwiches and doing other necessary tasks.
She said: “I’ve made a fair few sandwiches in my time but I really enjoy the social side of it. I can’t think of anything worse than being stuck in front of the TV all day.
“The great thing about volunteering is that you are helping other people but in funny way you are helping yourself as well. Volunteering gave me a new lease on life and it is something I would recommend to anyone regardless of their age.”
Ann Cousins, who manages the Friends Café, added: “Beryl is a bit of an institution in the hospital. Everyone knows who she is and loves chatting with her.”
When asked what her secret to a long life has been, Beryl said: “Everything in moderation! But I’m also just very lucky.” Even now, it doesn’t look like Beryl will be stopping her volunteering any time soon. Beryl told MyLondon: “The answer is to keep moving, otherwise you just stagnate sitting in a chair. My limbs all still move fine.”
What was happening in the world when Beryl was born in 1922
Beryl was born in 1922 when George V occupied the throne, Gandhi faced imprisonment for resisting British rule in India, and archaeologist Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb. She endured the Blitz throughout World War Two, which saw her bombed out of her home, and contributed to the war effort by stitching barrage balloons and serving as a fire watcher.
In 1942, she met her husband Bill at a dance and they remained together as a happy couple for 60 years until his death. Having experienced the war first hand, she finds it difficult to witness all the conflict featured in news reports in recent years. She added: “We spent a lot of time in the bomb shelter in our back garden and one of the nights we chanced sleeping inside there was an air raid and the house was hit. I ended up under a cupboard covered in plaster.
“It’s terrible to see all the news of war on the TV nowadays. When I see those pictures it reminds me of what I lived through in London during the Blitz. They weren’t easy times and people forget that rationing continued long after the war.”
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