IT WAS a special day of celebrations as a Holmer Green care home celebrated its 10th birthday.

The care team at Cherry Garth in Orchard Way organised a day of special events to mark the momentous occasion this month.

The day included entertainment from singer Mick Emblow, a sumptuous buffet, singing, dancing and a special speech from the home’s longest serving volunteer of 40 years, 80-year-old Margaret James.

Margaret made a speech at the event and talked about her time volunteering at Cherry Garth: “I was looking for something useful and interesting to do and I was accepted to join the merry band of about eight at the time.

“It was incredibly rewarding and I have wonderful memories of that time.”

After the speech, Margaret was presented with a beautiful bunch of flowers and the residents were given their own friendship flowers to celebrate the occasion.

During the event, residents were on their feet enjoying classic tunes from the likes of Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard.

Photographs were displayed of Cherry Garth’s history including the reconstruction of the home in 2011.

One of the home’s residents, Jean Atkins, used to work at the home and was also a member of the staff square-dancing team many years before the home was refurbished and reopened.

Activity Coordinator Diane Woolford said: “This time 10 years ago, Fern Britton reopened the home after it was refurbished.

“One of the residents who used to live at the home took all of these photographs and we decided to display them to celebrate our anniversary and as a reminder of what the old Cherry Garth looked like.”

Cherry Garth is run by the Fremantle Trust, a registered charity founded in 1992 that runs a number of schemes across the county. It was knocked down and rebuilt into its current form back in 2010 after the then-Chiltern District Council gave the plans the green light.