Listen to this article:A regular player celebrated at Carlton Bingo in Dunfermline, marking an extraordinary milestone. Danny Gannon recently celebrated his 103rd birthday at the club in Fife Leisure Park, together with staff and fellow players who have come to know him well over the years. For the past five years, Danny has been travelling twice a week from Perth to play bingo.
He makes the journey every Wednesday and Saturday, and has been doing so since his local hall closed. His level of commitment to the game would be impressive at any age, but at the grand age of 103, it has made him into something of a local bingo legend.
Lauren Wallbanks, the General Manager at Carlton Bingo Dunfermline, spoke of her surprise when she first learned Danny’s age.
“Last year, I was speaking to him, and he told me it was his birthday. I nearly fell over when I realised he was 102! The staff love him and think he’s fab. You wouldn’t think he’s 103; you probably wouldn’t even think he was 80. Still enjoying a game of bingo at 103 years young, that’s what we call living life to the fullest!”
Some birthdays are truly memorable and fill us with joy. Just last year, a woman had a unique celebration when she won the Mecca Bingo Crewe jackpot on her 60th birthday.
On his birthday, Danny walked into the hall to find it decorated with balloons, and he was met with more than 20 gifts from other players. Over the past five years, he has become a well-known and much-loved figure at the club. Staff describe him as a “cheeky character” who enjoys a joke, along with his Tia Maria and Coke.
To make his birthday truly unforgettable, Carlton Bingo arranged something extra special. Alongside the decorations and celebrations, Danny received ÂŁ103 worth of bingo vouchers. According to Lauren, he will never have to pay to play bingo again. “He won’t ever pay for it again; he’ll have it free for the rest of his life”, she explained.
While she confirmed that he is certainly the oldest player at Carlton Bingo, many believe that he is also the oldest bingo player in Scotland and possibly the UK or even the world.
While the stereotype of bingo being a game only played by retirees and old-age pensioners is demonstrably not true, there are certainly plenty of older players who still enjoy the game, and Danny is not the first centenarian to make headlines for their love of bingo. In 2009, 102-year-old Anne Webster celebrated her birthday with a game at Buckingham Bingo near Bradford Interchange.
Anne was well-known at the club as she had played there five or six days a week since it opened seven years earlier. For her 102nd birthday, staff organised a limousine to collect her from home and presented her with a bingo ticket-shaped cake and champagne.
Her son, Keith Webster, said she had always been determined to find a good game. Before Buckingham Bingo opened, she would travel by bus to towns including Doncaster, Sheffield and Barnsley to play. “She always had a great time, but it was a bit of a worry for the family”, he admitted.
Speaking about the game, Anne said, “I love bingo. It’s somewhere to go and make friends. I always look forward to it”. Having first played after the war at Laisterdyke Working Men’s Club, she believed the numbers helped to keep her mind active. The manager at the time described her as “a remarkable woman” and suggested she could be the oldest bingo player in Bradford, possibly even the world.
Danny and Anne are certainly two remarkable people with a great love of the game, and they both demonstrate that for many, bingo is not only about winning, it is also about staying active, being part of a community, and socialising, no matter your age. Danny, whose 103rd birthday was celebrated at Carlton Bingo, is sure to remember it as a once-in-a-lifetime moment.
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