A warden has celebrated 30 years of committed work at sheltered accommodation in Ramsey.

Gerry Wynne’s milestone was marked by residents and colleagues at Kerroo Glass, in Lezayre Road, on the anniversary of the complex opening in 1989.

Having been a warden since the very beginning, Mrs Wynne has made it her solemn duty to have Kerroo Glass feel as homely as possible for the elderly residents who take up the 56 flats.

She also wanted it to be a real home as she and her husband, Norman, lived there while raising two children who have since flown the nest.

’I’ve enjoyed meeting so many people over the years, meeting all different characters and hearing stories they’ve been able to tell us,’ she said.

’We now have 63 residents that we call on to make sure they are okay, but it’s more of a friendly home. Some people like a little chat in the morning.

’You’re not in and out of people’s flats, but you’re still checking on them.’

Mrs and Mr Wynne, who was the caretaker before retiring seven years ago, applied for the jobs after seeing the roles advertised in the paper as they wanted to be closer to Mrs Wynne’s parents who lived at Signpost Corner.

’It’s been such a friendly atmosphere with the residents welcoming us in with young kids at the time,’ she said.

Over 30 years she organised group holidays to the UK, Majorca, Cyprus, plus cruises to Norway and the Western Mediterranean.

She has organised many chippy dinners and popular weekly bingo events and worked extensively on the garden, which has had many successes in Ramsey in Bloom, Island in Bloom and was featured in Britain in Bloom.

During the celebrations, Sandra Kerrison, chairman of Ramsey and Northern District Housing Committee, showed a newspaper clipping about the opening of Kerroo Glass.

She said: ’The reason I have this newspaper clipping is that my father Clifford Quaye was the chairman of Ramsey and Northern Districts Housing Committee at the time. I remember him talking about the gardens at Kerroo Glass and especially the pond with its plastic ducks.

’He was amused by this as our dub (Manx term for duck pond) at Sandygate House was full of ducks and being a thrifty Manxman he couldn’t understand why anyone would pay for the plastic variety!

’It wasn’t long before there was "abundant flora" outside Kerroo Glass as well as inside as the gardens became Gerry’s passion. The pond obviously won the approval of the wild ducks and when the first ducklings appeared over 20 years ago Gerry would get up at 5am to watch over them. Now, thanks to her vigilance, Kerroo Glass has around 28 extra residents.’

She thanked Mrs Wynne for all she’s done ’to make Kerroo Glass a home for so many people’ over the 30 years. Mrs Wynne will continue her work until retirement next year.