A COMMUNITY champion from Redditch has turned 100 today (Thursday, October 23).
Lorna White MBE had plenty of visitors on her special day and received a card from King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Lorna has lived in the town since 1969 after moving to the new town when her husband George finished his time in the Armed Forces.
Lorna was the founding Secretary of Redditch Council of Voluntary Service and stayed in the organisation until she retired in 1991.
During her time there, she established Crossways House as a Women’s Refuge, set up the Shopmobolity Scheme and a community transport service.
The Redditch Volunteer Bureau, a respite caravan in Wales and the provision of Christmas parcels, were among her other areas of activity.
During her tenure she served on multiple committees and advisory boards as the representative of the community sector, including the Police Consultative Committee, the Public Sector Broadcasting Panel and attended every AGM of the voluntary organisations that were members of RCVS.
After she retired, she worked as as the SSAFA representative for the area and on the WIN Project which resulted in the establishment of Redditch Older Person’s Forum.
She gave talks to local groups, based on her experiences during the war and in Malaya and Singapore during the 1950s.
Lorna was an active member of the U3A, Ipsley WI and Redditch Older People’s Forum, until her late 2010s.
She now lives in the Brambles Residential Home in Headless Cross.
Lorna received her MBE from the then Prince Charles, for service to the community of Redditch.
She has two children and six grandchildren.
Lorna had plenty of visitors on her special day and received a card from King Charles and Queen Camilla.
And, when asked what her secrets to a long life was, Lorna said: “Have the right food most of the time, behave decently, do what you can for other people and nothing to excess.”
