A COMMUNITY centre in Coatbridge recently celebrated its oldest resident's 90th birthday.
The Golden Oldies Lunch Club, which meets at the Old Monkland Community Centre, celebrated Cathy Rolink's milestone birthday with a cake and a game of bingo.
The club is supported by Asda Coatbridge's community champion, Ann Binks who has been a staple in the community for more than 14 years.
Ann said: "Cathy is the oldest resident of the group, and we knew her 90th birthday was coming up, so I brought a cake and candles from Asda and we all celebrated with bingo and tucked into a slice of the cake, it was a lovely day.
"However, her celebrations didn’t stop there – we all got together in the community centre on a Saturday night for her big birthday bash.
"The hall was absolutely packed with everyone she knew, there must have been over 100 people there to celebrate with her, I was very touched to be a part of it.
"Cathy knows how to party; she was there right to the end of the night.
"I have to say, she looks fantastic for 90, I hope that I’m still up partying when I’m her age."
Ann assists local groups and charities with volunteering, fundraising, and applying for grants.
She said: "As the community colleague at Asda Coatbridge, I'm always looking for ways I can help and support the local community.
"I found the Golden Oldies Lunch Club at the Old Monkland Community Centre and offered my support, and here we are 14 years later - I still go every Wednesday.
"I organise and serve up lunches, do the dishes and get them plenty of cups of tea.
"They also need someone to shout out the bingo numbers of course - they can get quite competitive."
Ann said that she feels like a daughter to the group and enjoys spending time with them every week.
She added: “Just like when you’re going to your gran’s, I always take along a tasty treat for a cuppa – I think this is the reason they like me so much.
"But they truly treat me like I'm their daughter, and it is a pleasure to spend time with the group each week.
"Over the years I've seen plenty of people from Coatbridge and Bearsden come through this group and I always enjoy getting to know them all, they are quite dependent on me because of the age of some of them, so I'm very glad to be able to help."
Linda Watson, Cathy's daughter, said: "The Golden Oldies Lunch Club is such an important part of our community, at my mum's age, it's hard for her to get out of the house but she always makes it out to meet with Golden Oldies each week, and it's great Ann comes along to help them out.
“My mum has been an active part of the local community for almost her whole life, living locally in the same house for 50 years, so it was very heartwarming to see everyone make the effort to come and celebrate with her.”
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