WHEN Carmen Woodley was a young girl growing up in Jamaica she never imagined that one day she would make Yorkshire her home or get used to cold winters.

But for Carmen, who celebrated her own 70th birthday earlier this year, life took an unexpected turn when her parents left the warmth of Jamaica, which was then under British rule, to answer a call to come to Britain.

In 1964, Carmen came to England to join her parents and initially worked in a laundry on Mayo Avenue, Bradford, while going to night school to learn shorthand and typing.

She left home in 1967 and had two children, a son and daughter - who is a diabetes nurse specialist at the Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI). In 1968 Carmen joined the NHS as a cleaner and stayed for 40 years, finishing her long working life on Ward 12 of the BRI.

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She said: “I’ve enjoyed my working life and have made some good friends – I think the NHS is the best in the world, this system of healthcare is good.”

Now retired, Carmen lives with her husband in Bradford, and enjoys a busy social life and spending time with her family. She has been back to Jamaica several times, but says that as time went by she stopped wanting to return there to live.

She added: ”I feel very proud of my parents and what they did for their family and for Britain; they moved to a new country and worked very hard. We should never forget the contribution that they and many other people made.”