Joy's 100th Birthday Party
Published on 01 February 2023 11:01 AM
Tuesday 31st January was a very special occasion at the Mackenney Centre, as it was customer Joy’s one hundredth birthday party!
Joy was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan in 1923. When she was in her early 20s, Joy met Hughie and fell in love with his voice firstly - he was a singer with a velvet baritone voice. They moved to Reading, Berkshire and had two children. Joy worked for Royal Signals Records during World War II and then sold Clarks shoes in a department store.
Later, the family moved back to Wales, to Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, near her home town of Barry, where Hughie worked selling Ridgways Tea and they had a confectionary shop called ‘Candy Corner’.
Music was always in their lives and Joy and Hughie were members of Penarth Operatic & Dramatic Society, performing in shows like ‘South Pacific’. Later, Joy got her own music company called ‘Concierto’ where she directed and choreographed shows.
Hughie died over 20 years ago and it became increasingly difficult for Joy to manage on her own in their house, due to mobility problems. About 6 years ago, Joy moved to Chatham, Kent to live with her son and daughter in law, who are her main carers. 
Joy has been a regular at Age UK Medway’s Mackenney Centre for some years now, and she loves it. The Mackenney Centre staff and customers celebrated Joy’s special day with a big party, which included, of course, lots of music and singing.Thank you to our wonderful staff for making Joy's big day so special, and to our staff member, Amy, for making Joy a beautiful cake to mark the occasion.
Joy was the first customer from the Mackenney Centre to recieve a card from our new King, Charles III and Queen Consort, Camilla, and so she brought it into the centre to show everyone.
