Merseyside's own "Auntie Peg," best known for helping those most in need for decades, has shared her secret to 102 years of health and happiness.
Born Marjorie Monaghan in Birkenhead on September 30, 1920, still-sprightly Peggy Maskrey has lived an extraordinary life. One of five siblings growing up in Park Road, Peggy's life changed when she first went to Charles Thompson's Mission, a mission for poorer children, as a young girl.
In her lifetime, Peggy has worked at munitions factory during the Second World War, at Birkenhead’s former Robbs department store and started a family. But for 90 years, she also dedicated her life to those who needed help around her.
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Peggy's work hasn't gone unnoticed and in 2018, she also received an MBE for her services to the community. And despite being known to many as "Auntie Peg," Peggy said the best part of being recognised is that she's also "Auntie Peg to all of them."
As part of the Liverpool ECHO's How It Used To Be series, we spoke to Peggy about life in Merseyside over the last century and her secret to a long and happy life. Peggy told the ECHO: "I was born in Park Street and I stayed there until I was married. Down in Park Street, there used to be other little streets and sort of the poorer people lived in those streets.
"I had three brothers and a sister and we all played together when we were younger, but as we got older, at 14 you left school and then you got a job so you worked at 14. It's not like it is now."
Peggy says she benefited from help offered at Charles Thompson Mission in Birkenhead as a young girl when it was a mission for poor children and that her mother first brought her there in 1928. At 16, Peggy decided she wanted to help those in need who called at the Mission, on Hemingford Street.
Peggy said: "Monday night was Band of Hope (an organisation promoting total abstinence from alcohol), Tuesday was Boy's Club, Wednesday was the Adults' meeting, Thursday we had a Magic Lantern show at the Mission and all the children went and Friday was Girls' Club. In the summer, we always went out on the back of a lorry to Barstondale and people who had businesses in Birkenhead used to lend us their cars, or we used to go to Thurstaston and we had a lovely time being out in the open on a Saturday.
"We’d all have a nice meal in one of the halls wherever we were and then we used to have games and I loved that. We’d have sing songs, this was my childhood at the Mission. "
Peggy started volunteering at the Mission as a teenager and has fond memories of taking a large group of children to camp in Dyserth in the summer. She said: "People would come to the mission for clothes, for shoes and for food and it was always open.
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"I used to go every day to the Mission and there was always something to do. Clothes came in that had to be sorted, shoes had to be sorted and anything like household items, they had to be sorted."
And despite having her own family and her own job, Peggy continued to find the time to volunteer. Peggy, who worked for many years as a waitress in the restaurant in Birkenhead’s former Robbs department store, even met her late husband, Ted, at the mission.
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During the war, Peggy worked at a munitions factory in Manchester and when Ted returned in 1944 after being enlisted in the RAF in the Middle East, the couple married. A year later, they welcomed their only son David, who died over a decade ago, aged 55.
Peggy said: "My husband worked for Lever Brothers, so we bought this house and the money was taken out of his wages each month, so we never missed it. I've lived here ever since, over 70 years."
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In her life, Peggy's work at The Mission hasn't gone unnoticed. At the ECHO Awards in 2018, The Community Personality Award was awarded to Peggy for making helping the poorest people in society her life’s mission.
That same year, Peggy also received an MBE for her services to the community, which was awarded to her by King Charles at Buckingham Palace. Known across Birkenhead and beyond for her work at the Mission, Peggy is often called "Auntie Peg" by those who know her.
Peggy said: "It’s nice that you’re recognised, people say 'hiya Peg, how are you doing,' all through the Mission. If people have asked me to do something for them and I was able to do it, I would do it."
After many decades of selfless service, Peggy volunteered at the Mission up until the coronavirus pandemic hit. Peggy turned 100 in the pandemic, but her milestone birthday was celebrated with family the following year with a big celebration.
Peggy said she's been given "a good life" and that her secret to 102 years of health and happiness is being grateful for what she's had in life. Peggy said: "I think I've always accepted life as it's come.
"I've never wanted anything more than what I had. I never craved for anything, some people crave for nice houses or nice cars.
"I accept what God gave me and I've been given a good life and a happy life. Although I lost my husband, I lost my son, I've had my family and I've made the best of what god gave me.
"He gave me a nice home, a good husband and a good son and I've got a good family. I can go to any one of them and they’d help me."
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