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   Salford lady celebrates 102 not out
One of the most senior of the region's citizens, Miss Betty Lowe, celebrated her 102nd birthday at Henshaws Society for Blind People in Manchester last week. Betty, who still finds time to volunteer one day a week for the Women's Royal Voluntary Society at Salford Royal hospital, was awarded the MBE in 1998 for her outstanding contribution to local charities over the last forty years. Born into the last years of Edwardian Britain, Betty has seen 19 prime ministers, two world wars and five monarchs come and go during her long life; not bad when you consider she was considered a sickly child and had to attend an open air school when she was young. She went on to defy early worries about her health by joining the Girl Guides in 1919. Betty said: "I've been in the guides since I was 11. I was very interested in it and I used to go camping and walking all the time. I was a bit of an outdoor girl when I was younger." She progressed to being a guide leader, where she introduced hundreds of girls to the organisation, running events and annual camping trips and she is still a member of the Trefoil Guild and an active supporter of the Guides. A Salfordian born and bred, Betty served as an ARP warden during the Second World War and in the post war period worked for Crown Paints for many years. Betty started coming to Henshaws in the late 1990’s when she began to lose her sight. She said: “It’s a very friendly place and the people at Henshaws have always been very welcoming. I enjoy the social side of coming in to the centre and like to catch up with my friends in the social group.” Keeping active has always been important to Betty and she maintains that has played an important part in her longevity, along with having a wide range of interests. She said: “ Keep yourself moving, keep busy and active, that’s the key to a long and happy life.” True to her word Betty made the cakes for her birthday celebration at Henshaws, which went down very well with staff and service users alike. Source: Henshaws Society for the Blind Due to problems with spam only SalfordOnline members can now leave comments. Becoming a member of SalfordOnline only takes a minute, just hit the red Join Us button at the top right hand side of the page to create your Personal account. Got a news story? Need help with publicity for an event in Salford? Send it to newsdesk@salfordonline.com or call the SalfordOnline newsdesk on 0161 789 5377. |
