Mar 2020
Happy 109th birthday Mrs Haley!
Birthday wishes have poured in for Phyllis Haley, a resident at the Trust’s Avonbourne Care Centre in Old Sarum, who celebrated her 109th birthday on Tuesday 31st March.
Mrs Haley is listed as the oldest person in Wiltshire and the 29th oldest in the UK by the website Oldest in Britain.
Among those to have sent her birthday best wishes are celebrities Alan Titchmarsh and Mary Berry.
Mrs Haley celebrated her special day with a tea party at the home, when she was presented with a card including more than 109 birthday wishes received following a social media appeal. She also received a card from The Queen and a birthday cake from Bettys Tea Rooms as she held her wedding reception at its Leeds branch in September 1934.
Simon McLean, General Manager at Avonbourne Care Centre, said: “Mrs Haley is a real character and a true inspiration to us all here. She has such a positive outlook on life and we all have a huge amount of affection and admiration for her.”
Mrs Haley was married to the late Colonel Ralph Haley OBE for more than 60 years and accompanied him on postings around the UK and overseas.
The couple moved to Yorkshire after Col Haley’s retirement from the military, before they settled in the South of England to be near their two daughters, Barbara and Sue.
Mrs Haley said the secret to a long a life is to “be happy-go-lucky!”.