VETERANS CELEBRATED THE CORONATION WITH A STREET PARTY AT BROUGHTON HOUSE

More than 100 people basked in the sunshine at a street party at Broughton House Veteran Care Village to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla.

Residents were joined by their relatives for the occasion, along with staff and volunteers at the Salford care home.

Each guest received a picnic box which included specially-made Coronation cupcakes.

Singer George Porter performed hits from across the decades and guests were also entertained by magician Darren Brand.

Among the residents attending was Major Andrew Dinning, who served with the Royal Marines 3 Commando Brigade.

Andy, 79, was completing his training at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in 1971 at the same time as the future king had enrolled for training in the Royal Navy, and they met on a number of occasions.

Andy enrolled in the Royal Marines when he was 17 and served all over the world, including in South America and eight winters in the Arctic.

D-Day veterans and Broughton House residents David Teacher, aged 99, and Leslie Stocking, 97, were also at the street party.

David served in World War II from 1942-45 and took part in the Normandy Landings on D-Day. He joined the RAF at the age of 18 in 1942.

He was a mechanic in an RAF Beach Unit, which was among the first to land on Juno Beach in Normandy on D-Day in 1944. His job was to repair vehicles.

After living for three months on the beach in a trench, his unit moved to fight in the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium and was involved in relieving US troops besieged in Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944.                                                    

David, a double amputee, later received the MBE for his charitable work.

Leslie was among a brave group from the Royal Engineers who stormed Normandy’s Gold Beach on D-Day in June 1944.

Later Leslie chaired the Normandy Veterans Association for over 30 years. In 2009 he was awarded the Legion D’Honneur by the French government for his role in helping to liberate France.

In Leslie’s room at Broughton House, he proudly displays a photograph of him shaking hands with King Charles during the D-Day Voyage of Remembrance aboard the MV Boudicca in 2019 marking the 75th anniversary of the Normandy Landings.

Broughton House has cared for more than 8,000 veterans since it opened its doors to the ex-service community in 1916. Recently it has been transformed in a £12.5m scheme into a complex with a 64-bed care home and independent living apartments, an array of modern facilities, a museum, gym, hairdressing and barber’s salon, and a restaurant and bar for residents.

There is also an Armed Forces Support Hub which provides welfare support and counselling for ex-service people of all ages living in the local community.

Karen Miller, chief executive of Broughton House, said: “Our party in honour of the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla was a resounding success in bringing together residents and their families to celebrate such a momentous occasion.

“We truly hope all who attended had an excellent time with their loved ones and will look back on this day with the fondest of memories.

“For staff and residents’ families, this was the first time they were able to celebrate such an event, but many of our residents remembered the late Queen’s Coronation and got much joy reminiscing about this with one another.”