Hundreds of cards and gifts were sent to one Salfordian last week as she celebrated an incredible milestone birthday.
Elsie Goodall turned the grand old age of 106 – which officially makes her Salford‘s oldest person.
Reaching a milestone that not many get to achieve, Elsie marked her 106th birthday on 25 July surrounded by her family and friends at the Pendleton-based care home where she is a resident, Beechfield Lodge – which she moved only into about a year ago, after having a few falls – and was showered with cards, flowers, and gifts to celebrate the occasion.
She even welcomed a visit from Salford’s ceremonial mayor, Gina Reynolds, to mark the big day, and got to open a birthday card from King Charles III himself.
Born in Salford all the way back in 1917, Elsie grew up with her two younger brothers and parents in a grocery shop managed by her family on Broad Street, and admirably spent her career within the medical field – going on to work within several hospitals in Greater Manchester, including at Salford Royal as a laundry worker.
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“Fiercely independent” Elsie has never been married or had any children, but her life has always been a fulfilling one thanks to her true passion for dance, which she only recently had to give up at the age of 101.
All throughout her youth, Elsie spent her time dancing, and found a particular love for modern dance and sequence movement.
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Elsie admits “men and good to dance with [but] not particularly to live with”.
Salford’s oldest person showered with cards and gifts as she celebrates her 106th birthday / Credit: Beechfield Lodge
Reflecting on her life, the oldest Salfordian revealed: “I’ve never been married or had children. I did fall in love with a sailor once, he was lovely. I taught him how to dance. He volunteered in the navy and when he departed, we would write letters to each other, but he died in the war.
“I never quite got over it or met somebody as nice.”
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Elsie described her 106th celebrations at the care home as “amazing”, adding that she is “very grateful” to everyone that contributed to the special day, as it’s “lovely to be this old and still be able to get around and talk to people”.
Staff at Beechfield Lodge say Elsie is “the sweetest person you’ll ever meet”.
“Since moving into Beechfield Lodge, Elsie has become a role model to everyone,” admitted Sharon Bollesty – who is the care home’s Manager.
“[She has taught us how] to live life to the fullest, with her can-do attitude, words of wisdom, and knowledge.”
Featured Image – Beechfield Lodge
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Tesco shoppers urged to use up £16.5m-worth of Clubcard vouchers before they expire this month
Emily Sergeant
Tesco is urging Clubcard members to check if they have any vouchers that need to be used up, as millions are set to expire at the end of this month.
Clubcard Vouchers, which are always valid for two years from issue, need to be exchanged before the clock strikes midnight on the last day of this month (30 November), and can go towards everything from the cost of the weekly shop, to pay for fuel, or to pick up a new Tesco Mobile deal.
What’s more is that shoppers can also exchange the remaining vouchers for double their value too -with more than 100 Clubcard reward partners.
You can even take advantage of some all-new reward partner deals as well.
These include the new ‘Tesco Tuesdays’ offer with Cineworld, giving Clubcard members the chance to get cinema tickets for Tuesday showings for just £5 (£2.50 in Clubcard Vouchers), and the amazing new triple value voucher offer with PizzaExpress, meaning £10 of Tesco Clubcard vouchers can be redeemed for a code for £30-off food at the popular pizza chain.
According to Tesco’s stats, if the soon-to-be expired vouchers were all used for ‘Tesco Tuesdays’, it would be enough to get 6.6 million cinema tickets at Cineworld, and if they were exchanged at PizzaExpress, they could secure a whopping £49.5 million of reward codes.
Clubcard members can earn Clubcard points in a variety of ways, including using their Clubcard when they shop or purchase fuel at Tesco, or when they charge electric vehicles at Pod charging facilities at Tesco stores.
Today, it’s believed that more than 24 million UK households have a Tesco Clubcard.
“We don’t want anyone to miss out on making the most of their Tesco Clubcard Vouchers, and with some great new offers with Clubcard Rewards this really is a great time to use those vouchers up,” commented Shama Wilson, who is the Tesco Group Membership and Loyalty Director.
“So it really is worth checking in the Tesco app to see if you have any vouchers expiring.”
Featured Image – Tesco
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Bongo’s Bingo is hosting a series of special ‘Christmas Cracker’ and New Year’s shows
Danny Jones
Britain’s beloved Bongo’s Bingo is hosting a series of massive end-of-season specials to ring in the new year, announcing a number of their famous ‘Christmas Cracker’ and festive parties.
They’re also holding a ‘Big Fat Bingo of the Year’ (we don’t see any trademark issues whatsoever…), including one for NYE.
As one of the best nights out, not just in the North but in the country, they’re hoping to send you into 2026 singing, dancing, laughing, and hopefully with some lasting memories and maybe a prize or two.
Confirming the latest raft of shows starting this month, you can expect all the usual Bongo’s madness and more, plus all the bells and whistles, as well as plenty of tinsel and holiday cheer.
We’d love a new hoover for Christmas, to be fair. (Credit: Press shot)
Returning to Albert Hall as it regularly does throughout the rest of the calendar, Bongo’s Bingo is promising to give Manchester a Christmas and New Year’s period they’ll never forget.
As they put it, the hosts will be “transporting everyone back to the time when coloured tree lights and flammable tinsel ruled supreme, because the halcyon days of turkey with all the trimmings, mini bottles of Babycham and not a naughty elf in sight are BACK big time at Bongo’s Bingo.”
Bloomin’ ‘eck, they don’t half know how to get a crowd fired up even before they’re in the room, do they?
Set to deliver all the best festive tunes, “dodgy Santa Clauses” – their words, not ours – as well as plenty of foil hats fresh from the Christmas cracker, they’ll be partying with us Mancs multiple times throughout December, not to mention a bonus show at the end of November as we fully swap autumn for winter.
As for the ‘Twixmas’/’Christmas gooch’ period (again, not our words…), the format will then switch to the Big Fat Bingo of the Year, with quiz elements featuring all the biggest memes, tunes and cultural moments of 2025.
You can see the full list of Bongo’s Bingo festive dates for 2025 down below:
Bongo’s Bingo Christmas Cracker and Big Fat Bingo of the Year dates
Christmas Cracker
November – Fri, 28
December – Sat 6 Dec (day and night), Sat 20 Dec, Sun 21 (day), Mon 22 and Tues 23
Big Fat Bingo Of The Year
Sat, 27 Dec (day and night), Sun 28 (day) and NYE 2025
If you’re interested in booking onto Bongo’s Bingo this Christmas and/or New Year’s, you can find out more information and grab your tickets right HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
4th August 2023 
