Britain's oldest Westlife fan has celebrated her 101st birthday with a party devoted to her idols. Edna Warner was left shocked when her care home organised her a Westlife-themed tea party to celebrate her big day.
Staff covered the walls in photos of the Dublin pop group including photoshopped pictures of Edna posed up with Mark Feehily – her favourite band member. On the morning of her birthday on Saturday, a sign which read “Number one Westlife fan lives here” was stuck on her door and staff also created cardboard cut outs of Mark’s face to pose with in photos.
The mother-to-three-daughters said she has been a fan of Westlife for a “very long time” and first discovered the boy band while listening to the radio many years ago. Edna says her favourite song is “You Raise Me Up” which was originally composed by the Norwegian-Irish due Secret Garden and then recorded by Westlife in 2005, becoming a smash hit in Ireland.
While she's never seen the band perform live, Edna enjoys watching their Wembley tour videos in the cinema room at the care home. She also frequently requests Westlife songs to be played in the home for her and her friends to listen to. Edna, who was born in Dulwich, south London, in 1922 said she thoroughly enjoyed her Westlife themed party.
The former bank clerk who moved into the home in November 2021 said: “I have been a super fan as long as I have been going. If I saw them, I would be so excited.
“Mark is definitely my favourite and my favourite song is You Raise Me Up. The secret to a long life is to keep fit and to do as you are told - behave yourself.
“When I work up this morning, I told my carer I felt old, but did not feel 101. I don’t know anyone else my age that likes Westlife as much as me, so I must be their biggest fan.”
Subscribe here for the latest news where you live
The Irish group has sold more than 44million records worldwide and reunited in 2018. On the run-up to Edna’s birthday staff at Woodland View Care Home in Droitwich, Worcestershire, tried to arrange for the band to come to visit or for them to send her a video message.
One member of staff was even banned from Several Westlife Facebook groups after she spammed the page with messages to try to get Edna’s dream to come true. Unfortunately they weren’t successful, but they decided to throw her a Westlife-themed tea party instead.
Edna said she spent most of her childhood living underground because of the blitz and was made to work on war machinery while her father and future husband, Charles, were fighting in WW2. Debbie Collins, a care assistant at Woodland View, knows Edna well and says she is nicknamed Noddy by staff.
The 51-year-old said: “Edna is really kind and funny and has a lovely little giggle that you can hear throughout the care home. Alongside her Westlife obsession, she loves watching the horse racing and says she is very good at picking winners and beating the odds.
“Me and Edna are both big Westlife fans and she loves watching their Wembley tour video in the cinema room with friends at the care home. She is definitely their biggest fan.
“For the party today we have created lots of Westlife décor and photoshopped her into photos with Mark her favourite member. We have also made cut-outs of Mark’s face so we can hold them up and take photos with them.
“Over the weekend all her family are also coming down to throw her another party to make the occasion. Edna really is a lovable resident and she has lots of friends at the care home which look out for her and she looks out for too.”
