100-year-old Redditch woman still opening cards - over two weeks on from her birthday
Lorna White MBE turned 100 on the 23 October and received over a thousand cards from people all over
A Redditch woman who turned 100 towards the end of last month is still making her way through all her birthday cards after receiving well over a thousand of them.
Lorna White MBE celebrated her birthday on the 23 October, getting over 1,200 birthday cards, including one from King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Staff at Brambles Residential Care Home in Redditch where Lorna now lives say through their outreach they also brought in messages from "schools, community groups, and individuals nationwide", and she is still making her way through the ones she hasn't opened yet.
Lorna said getting all of the cards did come as a bit of a surprise.
"I didn't think I knew that many people," she said.
"It's nice to have that many friendly people shall we say, not necessarily friends, but friendly.
On any advice or tips for reaching 100, she added: "How did I get to 100? It just happened.
"Good living I would say, clean, healthy living, not too much of anything and you can't go wrong and just a bit of sense in between."
"Distinguished" military career
After being born in Cheshire in 1925, Lorna joined the army during the Second World War in the Auxiliary Territorial Service at the age of 17.
She initially worked in vehicle maintenance, before later transitioned to clerical roles and rising to eventually become a Warrant Officer.
In 1951, Lorna was posted to Singapore where she went onto meet her husband George Frederick White, who was a respected Sergeant from the north of England.
They married in 1959 and settled in Middlesbrough and later Redditch in 1969, going onto have two children.
She joined the Redditch Council for Voluntary Service as a general clerk and secretary where she helped shape community services and was awarded an MBE for her services to the community in 2012 from the then Prince Charles, who is now the king.
"That was quite a nice experience," she said.
"I went to the palace, they said do you want to go to Worcester County Hall or would you like to go to Buckingham Palace?
"I said, if it's all the same with you, I'll go to Buckingham Palace."
On some of the things she's most proud of during her life, Lorna mentioned it would be her army career or being a parent.