It’s very rare that one can say the collective age in a room is older than the building you find yourself in, but I was in that exact situation yesterday.

Celebrating the oldest users of the Glasgow Home Care Service, the annual tea party held in Kelvingrove Art Gallery Cafe brought together a group of centenaries with a collective age of 709.

Lord Provost Eva Bolander was among the well-wishers, and even sat and had a cup of tea and cake with the celebrants.

Seven centenarians enjoyed live music and conversation, with sandwiches washed down even with a nip of whisky.

Among them was James Murray, from Drumchapel, a war veteran who took part in the Normandy landings.

The Annual Tea Party began in 2014 as a way of celebrating veterans from the Great War.

Although originally intended to finish in 2018 as the centenary remembrance of the end of the Great War, the event was so popular that Glasgow City Council decided that it should continue to celebrate Glasgow’s oldest Home Care users.

Home Care in Glasgow is a vital service, supporting more than 5500 vulnerable service users a day, many of them elderly, to live independently at home.

Margaret Duff, from Sandyhills was there with her daughter, having just celebrated her 100th birthday in May.

“It’s a lovely event,” she said. “It is so nice to be here.”

Margaret Jane Earle, 101 from Knightswood, was there with her niece Catherine Bigham.

“I love listening to the old songs,” she said. “I haven’t heard some of these in years.

“A lot has changed from when I was younger.

“It’s hard to put your finger on just what has changed because it seems everything has. Don’t make me laugh because when I start I can’t stop – that’s stayed the same.”

Lord Provost Bolander addressed the room with a speech that remembered back to the Great War, and also to female emancipation when women were granted the right to vote in Glasgow.

She told the Evening Times: “This is the afternoon tea party for our elder citizens, celebrating people who are almost 100 years old – some are over 100 and some are just coming up for it.

“It’s just to cherish all that they have contributed through their lives to the city and the people who live in the city.

“These citizens really are the people who make Glasgow in the city.

“They have such a wealth of experience and I think it is so important to remember that.

“This is just a little way that we can pay them back.”