108-year-old resident receives nearly 700 birthday cards after care home appeal goes worldwide

Birthday surprises were never-ending for Dorothy Flowers last week when she received an unbelievable 680 cards from around the world including New York, Australia and even Las Vegas.

Staff at Southlands Care Home, Harrogate made an appeal on Facebook asking the public to send in cards so that Ms Flowers would be surprised when she received 108 cards to represent her age.

However, no one was expecting the amount that was posted to her. She is the oldest lady in Harrogate and the 68th oldest person in Great Britain.

Care home manager Helene Ballinger told carehome.co.uk: "We've been toasting her birthday all week and we have put all 680 cards including the Queen’s on display for everyone to see.”

During the celebratory week, Ms Flowers had a visit from St John's preschool who sang her happy birthday and gave her a handmade card.

On Ms Flowers actual birthday, she started her special day with a photoshoot from the local paper, a visit from a grammar school, an interview with a local BBC radio station and BBC Look North, a bouquet of flowers from the local police as well as Harrogate Borough Council followed by an accordionist playing to her.

Inbetween the visitors, there was time to drink champagne and eat cake. She even had a present from Harrogate's famous Bettys tearooms saying: ‘From one centenarian to another.’

’She’ll sit with us at the reception desk each day.’

At the weekend, Ms Flowers had her family including her niece to the home to celebrate.

When not celebrating her birthday, Ms Ballinger said: "Dorothy loves company, so she'll sit with us at the reception desk each day. She has her own drawer which we keep full of chocolate buttons which we keep topped up for her.”

Born October 22, 1911 in Headingly, Leeds, West Yorkshire, Ms Flowers was one of two children to publicans Frank and Fanny Wingate.

She attended Leeds Girls Modern School before leaving aged 14 to pursue a career as an accountant.

It was whilst training for the career that she met her husband-to-be, fellow accountant Leonard and they married in the early 1940s. During the Second World War, the couple moved to London and after the war, they moved to New Malden in Surrey, before they retired to Torbay in Devon in 1963. Although they had no children, Ms Flowers has always been close to her niece.

When her husband passed away in 1981 Ms Flowers moved to Harrogate in 1995 to be near her niece. She came to live at Bupa Southlands Care Home four years ago.

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