“Sherry and porridge” – Frome care home centenarian reveals her special diet

A Frome care home resident has credited her longevity to “drinking sherry and eating porridge” as she celebrated a very special milestone. 

Eileen Wilkie, a resident at Care UK’s Rossetti House, on Welshmill Lane, shared her very special diet as she toasted her 105^th birthday. 

To honour Eileen’s centenarian birthday, the team at Rossetti House invited her friends and family for a special party.

Eileen was born on 13^th February 1921 in Chirk, North Wales. In 1942, during the Second World War, she married her husband, John. While John served in the army, Eileen played her part on the home front as a member of the Land Army.

At the end of the war, the couple set up home together, firstly in Bridgwater before moving to Bristol, Birmingham and later Woking, as John’s career as an Accountant took them around the country. 

Eileen took each move in her stride, seeing it as her duty to support her husband wherever his work required them to be. One of the greatest challenges she faced during this time was arranging schooling for their children – at one point even home-schooling them for a term while they waited for school places to be secured.

Together they had three children, Lenore, Amanda and Katrina, and the family has since grown to include eight grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren, who regularly visit Eileen at Rossetti House.

Following the war, Eileen dedicated her time to raising her children and running her home. In her spare time, she developed a love for golf, stamp collecting, gardening and poetry.

When asked for her thoughts on turning 105, Eileen said that “drinking sherry and eating porridge” was her secret to a long life, adding: “I enjoyed everything about my birthday, especially the vast array of flowers and cards that arrived – and, of course, seeing my family. The icing on the cake was that my birthday coincided with a visit from West Highland Terrier, Coco, who visits Rossetti House regularly and who I always love to see.” 

Phil Vale, Home Manager at Rossetti House, added: “We were so excited to celebrate such a joyous day with Eileen. As a much-loved resident at Rossetti House, it was wonderful to mark this tremendous milestone with her and her family. 

“Here at Rossetti House, everything we do centres around our ethos of ensuring residents live active and fulfilling lives – and Eileen’s 105^th birthday celebration was no exception. It was lovely to see how happy she was to be surrounded by those closest to her on her special day.”

Rossetti House provides full-time residential, dementia and nursing care in a luxury setting, as well as short-term respite care. Designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence, the home incorporates plenty of space for hobby and leisure activities and has its own cinema, hair and beauty salon and café. The building has been designed to help facilitate the creation of close-knit communities and encourage social interaction among the residents.