A 103-year-old woman who volunteers at Ealing Hospital has been named the world’s oldest female volunteer by Guinness World Records.
Beryl Carr, 103, still works one day a week at the Friends Cafe in Ealing Hospital, where she has been serving staff, patients and visitors for more than 20 years. Her entry now sits alongside records including the oldest living person of all time, at 122, and the oldest human-planted tree, estimated at 2,300 years old.
Beryl began volunteering in 2003 at the age of 80, preparing food and working the till.
She said: “I’ve made a fair few sandwiches in my time but I really enjoy the social side of it. I can’t think of anything worse than being stuck in front of the TV all day. The great thing about volunteering is that you are helping other people but in funny way you are helping yourself as well.”
Born in 1922, when George V was king, Beryl grew up in an era of upheaval. She survived the Blitz during the second world war, losing her home in an air raid and later sewing barrage balloons and serving as a fire watcher.
Beryl reflected: “We spent a lot of time in the bomb shelter in our back garden and one of the nights we chanced sleeping inside there was an air raid and the house was hit. I ended up under a cupboard covered in plaster.”
She added: “Volunteering gave me a new lease on life and it is something I would recommend to anyone regardless of their age.”
Ann Cousins, who runs the hospital cafe, said: “Beryl is a bit of an institution in the hospital. Everyone knows who she is and loves chatting with her.”
