TOGETHER, they will have celebrated 900 birthdays.

This year, nine of Glasgow's World War I babies will turn 100, joining 26 other centenarians in the city.

Each is a client of Cordia, Glasgow City Council's arms-length care provider, and the firm says the number of clients aged 100 or more has tripled in the past five years.

Frances McMeeking, Head of Care Services at Cordia, said: “It’s a pleasure to serve some of Glasgow’s oldest residents and it’s incredible to think of the historic events each has lived through.

“The increase of clients over 100 years of age has significantly grown and is set to increase with even more this year - something we are very proud of.

“Our home care team plays a vital role in ensuring some of Glasgow’s most elderly citizens can live independently and healthily in their own homes, getting support when and where they need it.

“We continue to provide such services 24 hours a day across the city and ensure that we care for those who need it most.”

A total of 26 clients over the age of 100 are currently in receipt of a range of services from the home care provider – an increase of over 200 per cent since 2013.

Nine Cordia clients are set to celebrate their 100th birthdays this year, each born during the final months of the First World War.

The organisation’s most senior clients are made up of three men and 23 women, with seven of the nine to turn 100 this year also female.

The oldest of the service provider’s clients is 108 years of age, born in 1909, before the First World War.

According to a study by the National Records of Scotland, life expectancy in Glasgow has generally been improving for the last 35 years, with recent figures reaching 77.1 for men and 81.2 years of age for women, however remains dependent on each community.

Cordia’s oldest service users live in different areas across the city with eight living in the North East, six in the North West and 12 on the South Side.

David Williams, Chief Officer at Glasgow City Health and Social Care, said: “It’s vital that the city’s elderly and most vulnerable receive the greatest standard of care possible, allowing people to live longer in the comfort of their own homes.

“The increase in the number of people over the age of 100 is excellent and reflects both the level of support the clients have received, as well as the increasingly positive health landscape in Glasgow.

“Well done to the staff at Cordia for the hard work carried out each day to ensure that the elderly can maintain a degree of independence while safe, comfortable and well looked after.”

Cordia has a team of more than 3000 home carers carrying out more than five million visits across Glasgow in 2017, helping the city’s most elderly residents be able to live independently in their own homes.