SWLNrave – By Adam Dutton
A party-loving pensioner has celebrated her 105th birthday – by holding a RAVE at her care home.
Hilda Jackson swapped her zimmer frame for glowsticks and UV paint after a DJ descended at Holbrook Hall Care Home in Ripley, Derbys., this evening (Tue).
The sprightly OAP, who says she loves to “dance and party”, had told carers she wanted to hold a rave to celebrate her major milestone.
So staff helped organise the bash with fellow residents, who enjoyed a DJ spinning dance classics from a booth set up in the lounge.
Hilda rolled back the years as she boogied along to disco tunes while partying the night away with fri and family with a gin and tonic.
Young-at-heart Hilda said: “I’m not one for all the big rocking and rolling stuff, I like a waltz and a foxtrot. But I like listening to any music with a good tune.
“I’ve enjoyed every minute of my life which I intend to keep on doing while I can.”
Hilda, who was born when David Lloyd George was Prime Minister and George V was on the throne, is originally from Ripley, Derbys., and the care home’s oldest resident.
She worked in a fabrics factory after leaving school and made munitions in Derby during World War II.
The pensioner was a keen traveller in her younger days and loved playing and watching tennis – especially Wimbledon.
On her secret for a long and healthy life Hilda said: “I couldn’t get enough tennis, I can hear my mum saying you’re never going out again tonight playing tennis, you’ll be worn out.
“Just keep on, keep batting.”
Hilda met her husband, Walter, in her early twenties but he passed away in the late 1950s. She said he was her ‘one true love’ and she did not marry again after his passing.
Following Walter’s death and that of her sister Vera’s husband, Hilda and her sister lived together for 63 years until Vera died.
The pair would often travel around the UK on dancing holidays and also abroad on dancing cruises.
Care home manager Rebecca Wass said she thinks Hilda picked up the idea of a rave from a TV show.
She said: “She’s always been a big fan of dancing and living life to the fullest.
“I’m not sure where the idea came from.
“I don’t know if she’s seen something in a film, but she said she wanted a good celebration.
“She’s always been a big fan of dancing and living life to the fullest so she wanted to do something to represent that.
“There’s a DJ coming in, rave lighting, UV paint and all sorts of things.
“She had a similar request last year so all the care home residents had glow sticks, the whole works.
“We had a few last year who were up dancing away and even Hilda gives it a go.”
Rebecca added: “She’s a very cheeky lady. She’s constantly on the go, very determined and very aware of what she wanted.
“She’s often asked what’s the secret to be able to act so young in her old age and she puts it down to playing tennis, which she did in her youth.
“We’re asking people from anywhere to send in birthday cards – we want to show just how loved Hilda is.”
