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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Entertainment
Sandra Mallon

Westlife's oldest fan celebrates 101st birthday with sweet tribute to the band

Britain's oldest Westlife superfan has celebrated her 101st birthday with a party devoted to her idols.

Edna Warner was left shocked when her care home organised her a Westlife themed tea party to celebrate her big day.

Staff at Woodland View Care Home in Droitwich, Worcestershire covered the walls in photos of the Irish pop group including photoshopped pictures of Edna posed up with Mark Feehily - her favourite band member.

On the morning of her birthday yesterday, a sign which read "Number one Westlife fan lives here" was stuck on her door and staff also created cardboard cut outs of Mark's face to pose with in photos.

READ MORE: Westlife star Mark Feehily sells plush Dublin home for cool €2.4 million

The mother-to-three-daughters said she has been a fan of Westlife for a "very long time" and first discovered the boy band whilst listening to the radio many years ago.

Edna says her favourite song is "You Raise Me Up" which was originally composed by the Norwegian-Irish duo Secret Garden and then recorded by Westlife in 2005 which became a smash hit in Ireland.

Whilst never seeing the band perform live, Edna enjoys watching the band's Wembley tour videos in the cinema room at care home.

She also frequently requests Westlife songs to be played in the care home for her and her friends to listen too.

Edna, who was born in Dulwich, south London, in 1922 said she thoroughly enjoyed her Westlife themed party.

Edna Warner (better known as Noddy) a Westlife superfan celebrates her birthday in Woodland View Care Home in Droitwich, Worcs (Joseph Walshe)

The former bank clerk who moved into the home in November 2021 said: "I have been a super fan as long as I have been going.

"If I saw them, I would be so excited.

"Mark is definitely my favourite, and my favourite song is You Raise Me Up.

"The secret to a long life is to keep fit and to do as you are told - behave yourself.

"When I work up this morning, I told my carer I felt old but did not feel 101.

"I don't know anyone else my age that likes Westlife as much as me so I must be their biggest fan."

The Irish group have sold more than 44 million records worldwide and reunited in 2018.

On the run up to Edna's birthday, staff at Woodland View tried to arrange for the band to come and visit or for them to send her a video message.

One member of staff was even banned from Several Westlife Facebook groups after she spammed the page with messages to try and get Edna's dream to come true.

Unfortunately, they weren't successful, but they decided to throw her a Westlife themed tea party instead.

Westlife perfroming at Manchester's AO Arena (Luke Taylor / SplashNews.com)

Edna said she spent most of her childhood living underground because of the blitz and was made to work on war machinery while her father and future husband, Charles, were fighting in WW2.

Debbie Collins, a care assistant who has worked at Woodland View for over a year and knows Edna well says she is nicknamed Noddy by staff.

The 51-year-old said: "Edna is really kind and funny and has a lovely little giggle that you can hear throughout the care home.

"Alongside her Westlife obsession, she loves watching the horse racing and says she is very good at picking winners and beating the odds.

"Me and Edna are both big Westlife fans and she loves watching their Webley tour video in the cinema room with friends at the care home.

"She is definitely their biggest fan.

"For the party today, we have created lots of Westlife d cor and photoshopped her into photos with Mark her favourite member.

"We have also made cut outs of Mark's face so we can hold them up and take photos with them.

"Over the weekend all her family are also coming down to throw her another party to make the occasion.

"Edna really is a lovable resident and she has lots of friends at the care home which look out for her and she looks out for too."

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