A Woking care home was transformed into the Wild West for one resident’s milestone birthday. 

Bernard Sunley care home celebrated Western and cowboy film-loving resident Cedric Vallint’s 101st birthday by bringing the frontier to him – with a lot fewer guns and a lot more balloons.

His room was decked out with balloons and banners by the care team. He was given cards and gifts and he enjoyed a tasty breakfast with his care home friends.

Cedric, a resident at Bernard Sunley care home since November 2021, grew up in India and attended the La Martinière School in Kolkata, previously Calcutta.  

“I’ve always loved films, especially cowboy films,” said Cedric. “John Wayne is my all-time favourite film star. His iconic one-liners are great. One that springs to mind is ‘Life is getting up one more time than you’ve been knocked down’, which is so true.”

In the afternoon, the Rootin’ Tootin’ party continued with Cedric’s daughter Maureen visiting. The care home chefs put on a special birthday afternoon tea, complete with a home-made 101st birthday cake. The care team also arranged for a special 101-year-old cowboy’s shindig with singer Helen performing a singalong through the decades, which everyone enjoyed. 

“It was great to have a good old sing song,” said Cedric. 

“Cowboys sang around their campfires to relax after a hard day’s work, if they were lonely and, so it’s said, to soothe the cattle. Not us. We all sang along with Helen for fun and giggles. We had a marvellous time.”