Hard working Gwen only 80 years young
At an age when most people are preparing for retirement, Gwen Simmonds was just getting going.
Aged 60 she started work at a West Bromwich recycling company, and 20 years on she is still going strong. The grandmother of seven and great grandmother of nine is celebrating her 80th birthday on December 10 and she has no plans to put her feet up yet. She says work is what keeps her young. "I love it here," said Gwen, of Oldbury Road, Greets Green.
"It's like a family. I'm a widower and I don't like staying in and staring at four walls. This keeps me busy."
Gwen works five days a week from 8am to 12.45pm and her alarm goes off at 6.30am every day.
She is the oldest member of staff at BCR Global Textiles, which owns and sorts clothing from recycling banks, though she is closely followed by two 72-year-olds, Maureen Sault and Laura Whitehouse.
She added: "I have done all sorts here, I've sorted the socks and the coats, l do enjoy it.
"They're not going to get rid of me, I'll still be here when I'm on a Zimmer frame."
Gwen started working there after the death of her husband Alfred 24 years ago. Previously she had worked as a metal presser at West Bromwich's Dart Springs factory.
She also keeps fit with sequence dancing and line dancing each week at St Peters Church in Greets Green.
Gwen's boss Maxine Sault said: "She's a real help, she wouldn't be here if she wasn't, I couldn't get rid of her anyway, it would be like sacking my mum."
Gwen will be marking the milestone birthday with a party at the Station Hotel in Dudley, organised by her three children.
