CUTTING the cake at a party to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Grayshott Day Centre at the end end of last month, was East Hampshire District council leader and village ward member Ferris Cowper.

A team of volunteers have ensured older residents from Grayshott, Headley and Bordon can get together at St Luke’s Church Rooms every Thursday, to enjoy a good chat, activities and a freshly cooked lunch, since 1986.

A door-to-door bus service is provided to make sure no one misses out.

“Ferris made a speech and a lot of past and present helpers came,” day centre cook Sally Grocock said, who is celebrating her 17th year at the centre.

“We had more than 50 people and I made all kinds of finger foods with the help of fellow cook Maggie Wright, who has been here for a year.

“We get our supplies from FareShare, which rescues good-quality surplus food that would otherwise go to waste.

“We get it all free but don’t know what’s coming on a Wednesday. It’s a bit like BBC’s ‘Ready Steady Cook’ series. You have to figure out the menu, which makes it a lot more fun.

“The main change I’ve seen over the last 17 years is that most members in the early days were very frail and we had to entertain them.

“In recent years, we have had two members celebrating their 100th birthdays and two-thirds of our members now are strong-minded and independent, and enjoy doing the activities themselves.”