Friends re-united after day centre volunteers go the extra mile

So when two friends, both with German roots, were reunited there were plenty of hugs, smiles and Guten Tags.

Long lost pals Edith Pyk, aged 87, and Rosa Walkerden, aged 88, both live in Cannock, but old age and deteriorating health has conspired to keep them apart.

The pair, who visit separate day centres operated by elderly care Age UK, were over the moon to be reunited after a volunteer realised they were connected and a meeting was arranged at the charity's Sir Julian House, in Bridgtown.

And when they finally got together for the first time in four and a half years their faces lit up.

Mrs Pyk attends the centre, in Walsall Road, while her friend Mrs Walkerden, attends the Roller Mill site, in Teddesley Road, Penkridge.

Both were born in Germany and met in the 1970s after moving to Cannock in the aftermath of the Second World War.

Mrs Pyk, of Heath Hayes, came to the town in 1951 to join her late husband Andre who had been a Ukrainian refugee in war torn Germany before seeking sanctuary in the UK. He worked as a miner at Littleton Colliery in Cannock.

They lived in lodgings at Longford House on the A5 when they first arrived. It was owned by the Whitehouse family at the time.

Mrs Walkerden met her late husband Jack when he was a British serviceman in Germany.

Both men passed away aged in their 60s in the 1980s.

When their husbands died the ladies, who were both housewives, grew closer and travelled the world on holiday. They visited each other's homes until 2009 when deteriorating health took its toll and they were both found to be in need of extra care.

"We have known each other for a long time. Although I haven't seen her for a while because we can't get out very much these days," Mrs Pyk says.

"We are really good friends and I've missed seeing her and going on our holidays together. I'm very happy to see her again," Mrs Walkerden says.

Age UK South Staffordshire service manager Sylvia Dunn said they know hope to get the pair of friends together more often.

She said: "We would like to make it a monthly meeting for Edith and Rosa. They both attend our day opportunities programme several times a week."