Horsham care home resident celebrates 100th birthday with a ‘£3.5 million performance’

A resident at a care home in Horsham celebrated her 100^th birthday with a special performance by one of the UK’s leading violinists. 

A very special birthday celebration took place at Care UK’s Skylark House care home, on St Mark’s Lane, when resident Beata Hulsen was treated to a surprise performance by renowned violinist, Andrew Bernardi. 

 

Andrew played the special concert for Beata and residents at the care home, playing classical songs on a 300-year-old violin worth £3.5 million. 

Commenting on the performance, Beata said: “This was a lovely birthday surprise – despite being 100 years old, I felt very young in the company of the 300-year-old violin!” 

To celebrate the milestone birthday, the home decorated the lounge with balloons and banners, and the home’s talented head chef, Yann, baked a special birthday cake for everyone to enjoy, which was purple and green to mark the Wimbledon colours – Beata’s favourite sporting tournament. To mark the occasion, Beata revealed her secret to longevity was a ‘sense of humour and a good amount of exercise’.  

Continuing the celebrations outside, team members at Skylark House also surprised Beata with a trip to the local tennis courts in Horsham, where she used to spend many weekends playing tennis with family and friends. 

Beata was born on 11^th March 1922. During her career, Beata worked for the United Nations for many years, which saw her live in Geneva and Brazil. Passionate about tennis, Beata enjoyed playing the sport up to the age of 90 but remains an avid fan of tennis tournaments today. 

Dorota Woloszyn, Home Manager at Skylark House, said: “Beata is a much-loved resident at Skylark House, and it was fantastic to help her celebrate this incredible milestone with a very special performance from Andrew Bernardi.  

“Here at Skylark House, everything we do is focused on our ethos of ensuring residents live active and fulfilling lives, so we always like to celebrate important milestones – and Beata’s 100^th birthday was no exception. It was lovely to raise a glass together on her special day and celebrate in style with her two of her favourite pastimes, music and tennis.”

Skylark House has been designed to deliver the very best standards of care and to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives. The home provides full-time residential, nursing and dementia care, as well as short-term respite and palliative care.   

For more information on Skylark House, please call Customer Relations Manager, Beverly Jordan, on 01403 887 578 or email beverly.jordan@careuk.com.

For more general information, please visit: careuk.com/skylark-house.