A Cheadle care home resident who is celebrating her 100th birthday recommends that people “stay single” if they want to live a long life.
Joyce Preston is marking a milestone that not many people get to reach in their lifetimes, as she impressively turned 100 years of age a couple of weeks back on 20 March, and so naturally, she’s been taking some time to reflect and look back on the decades she’s been lucky enough to spend on this earth.
Not only that, but the Stockport centenarian has also shared what she believes is the key to living a long life in the hopes it’ll help others to do the same.
She may currently be a resident at Care UK’s Abney Court Care Home, in Abney Hall Park in Cheadle, at the moment, but Joyce was born in Stockport on 20 March 1924.
Making the decision to never get married, Joyce instead decided to focus on her career at the Shirley Institute – which was a research centre for the cotton industry – and after years of her hard work, she went on to become the head of the company’s office in Didsbury.
ADVERTISEMENT
Joyce Preston, from Stockport, is celebrating her 100th birthday / Credit: Care UK (Supplied / Family Handout)
Joyce has visited many countries across the world throughout her life, thanks to a shared love of travelling on cruises with her close friends, and reveals she was the most fond of her time spent in the Middle East in particular.
Aside from travelling, Joyce has always had a passion for singing, and she spent many years performing with her local choir.
ADVERTISEMENT
But what exactly does she owe her 100 years to then? What does she reckon is the key to living a long and healthy life? Well, we’ll need to go back to the ‘never marrying’ part to find the answer for that, as Joyce has attributed her impressive longevity to “staying single”, and ultimately, having fun.
“I really enjoyed the day,” Joyce said, after celebrating her 100th birthday in style during a party at Abney Court last month, that was complete with a cake specially-prepared by the home’s Head Chef, and a performance by the choir she used to be a was a part of.
Abney Court Care Home in Cheadle, where Joyce is a resident / Credit: Care UK
“I especially enjoyed seeing my friends and family, and I loved the choir as it brought back memories of my time in the choir, so that made my day.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Zoe Smart, who is the Home Manager at Abney Court, said it was an “honour” to celebrate Joyce’s birthday with her, as she is “a beloved resident” and that everything the home does centres around “supporting residents to live fulfilling lives”.
“We are always eager to mark special occasions,” Zoe added.
“Joyce’s 100th birthday was no exception, and it was a delight to hear her sound advice for living a long and happy life and all about her travels in her younger years.”
Featured Image – Care UK
Trending
Manchester City announced signing of top Premier League defender Marc Guehi
Danny Jones
It looks like they’ve finally got a done deal: Manchester City have finally announced the transfer of highly sought-after defender Marc Guehi.
Man City reached an agreement with Crystal Palace to sign the increasingly established Three Lions star after emerging as a suitor in recent weeks.
Pep Guardiola’s pursuit of the impressive Premier League centre-back ramped up earlier this month, as it became apparent that they were hoping to hijack Liverpool’s prospective move for Guehi.
The Ivory Coast-born England international looked all set to arrive at Anfield back in the summer, but the deal never materialised, and now rivals City have sealed his signature instead.
Finally confirmed and fully announced on Monday, 19 January, Palace and Man City are said to have reached an agreement in principle for a base fee of approximately £20 million.
However, rumoured add-ons are thought take that total closer to £30m; either way, it’s fair to say that it’s an absolute bargain for a player of his quality.
On the other hand, the acquisition will also see Man City’s total spending reach roughly half a billion pounds over the past year alone. Staggering sums for any sporting outfit.
Not that his former London team will mind one bit, of course, as it became increasingly clear that Guehi would be leaving eventually; manager Oliver Glasner – who also seems set to depart at the end of his contract – even addressed the sale ahead of completion in a recent press conference.
Guehi will wear the number 15 shirt for Man City and has penned a deal until 2031.
With Man City currently facing multiple absences, particularly in their backline with both Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias out injured, Guehi’s arrival is no doubt a welcome one.
Although many debated whether or not Pep needed to sign another centre-half, especially with two promising youth players returning from loan, supporters will nevertheless be glad to have snatched him from the clutches of Liverpool.
Over in the women’s team, they’ve also brought in a new member of the squad who could help spur on their title charge.
Can you see any more deals being down befor the end of the window?
New survey reveals half of Mancs have already given up their new year’s resolutions
Emily Sergeant
We’re into our third week of 2026 now, and according to a new survey, half of Mancs have already ditched their new year’s resolutions.
New year’s resolutions are always made with the best intentions, and it’s not like we intentionally set ourselves up to fail with them, but more often than not, that tends to be the case – and now a new survey of 1,000 Brits carried out over the past few weeks has found that 35% of us have already admitted to giving them up.
That percentage rises to a whopping 50% when narrowed down to the people of Greater Manchester.
Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, and Glasgow are the other four major cities joining Manchester in the top five list of people in each area that have stopped their 2026 challenge early.
Half of Mancs have apparently already given up their new year’s resolutions / Credit: PICRYL | Pexels
On the other end of the spectrum, it’s the cities of Southampton, Newcastle, and Edinburgh that are staying strong, with just 25%, 26% and 26% giving their new year’s resolutions up respectively, and some of the other northern cities on the list including Liverpool and Leeds.
According to new research from greetings card marketplace, Thortful, more than half of Brits (53%) expect to give up within the first three months of the year – with the hustle of busy schedules, work commitments, families, and social activities being given as reasons why.
When it comes to the reasons people provided for why they’ve given their resolutions up this year, lack of discipline tops the list at 43%, followed by just being too busy to consider them at 21%, and different mental or physical barriers in third place, as well as a change of personal circumstances and a lack of money also cited.
The majority of people cited a lack of discipline as being the reason they gave up / Credit: Andrea Piacquadio (via Pexels)
Looking forward to next year, it seems many of us want to reframe how we set our new year’s resolutions in the future.
According to the research, 32% of respondents want to ‘improve their existing qualities rather than set an unrealistic challenge’ next time around, and 16% ‘feel like there’s social pressure to change in the new year’, when in reality, they ‘don’t have to’.
Emily Sergeant -
11th April 2024 
