How to live longer: Great-gran, 107, shares the delicious secret to her long and happy life

How to live longer: Great-gran, 107, shares the delicious secret to her long and happy life Dorothy Creighton celebrated her remarkable birthday with a surprise party at her Hampshire care home and during the celebrations she made it known her long-life points back to her staple breakfast Not many people live to 107 - but according to one great-grandmother, the trick could be a greasy start to your morning. Dorothy Creighton celebrated her 107th birthday last month with a surprise party surrounded by friends and family. Having lived through the Second World War and raising three children, she credited her long life to an staple breakfast she's had for a century. She said: “The secret to a long and happy life is to have a good man, a good family and to keep everyone around me on their toes. Also, I can’t live without my bacon and eggs every morning, or my jelly babies!” The great-grandmother, based in Horndean, Hampshire, was born in Bristol and described herself as a tomboy growing up. Long before her birthday celebrations at the care home, she spent her childhood playing football with the boys. She started her working life as a hairdresser, but swapped the salon for the Women’s Land Army when the Second World War broke out. It was during this chapter of her life that she met her then soon-to-be husband The couple went on to raise two daughters and a son, with their family growing over the years to include grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Reaching such an age remains rare. Office for National Statistics estimates put the number of people aged 100 and over in the UK at 16,600 in 2024 - double the 8,300 recorded two decades earlier. Dorothy has already gone seven years beyond that milestone. Dorothy moved into Care UK’s Pear Tree Court in 2023, where staff described her as chatty and said she enjoyed talking to those around her. She also regularly visited the home’s coffee shop and sweet cart – fitting for someone who counted jelly babies among her essentials. For her birthday, the team pulled out all the stops, decorating the home with balloons and banners. The head chef also made her a cake to mark the occasion, as those closest to her gathered for the surprise celebration. Aimee Sparks, home manager at Pear Tree Court, said: “We were so excited to celebrate such a joyous day with Dorothy. As a much-loved resident, it was wonderful to mark this tremendous milestone with her. “Here at the home, everything we do centres around our ethos of ensuring residents lead active and fulfilling lives – and Dorothy’s 107th birthday celebration was no exception. “It was lovely to see how happy she was to be surrounded by those closest to her on her special day.”