Celebrations at Wigan care home as great-great-grandmother marks 100th birthday

Winifred Vernazza started her day with mass from St Oswald’s Church in Ashton, before spending time with her loved ones and receiving calls from relatives on the other side of the world.

She received balloons, cards, flowers and presents at Ashwood residential care home in Ashton, where she has lived since August, and enjoyed a tea party with a buffet and singalong.

Winifred was born in Ashton in 1922, one of seven children to Mary and William Anderson.

She attended St Oswald’s School before working at an ammunition factory in Risley during the Second World War.

She married Joseph Vernazza in 1946 at St Oswald’s Church and they both worked for Fredericks Dairy, with Mr Vernazza becoming well-known as the local ice cream man.

The couple have two children – Josephine and Anthony – followed by three grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.