Woman sent 16,000 birthday cards for her 100th birthday after online appeal in Sheffield

Winnie Blagden has no children or surviving relatives following her husband's death

Winnie Blagden had a surprise party at Sheffield Town Hall (PA)

A woman in Sheffield has received more than 16,000 cards from around the world for her 100th birthday.

A local radio station launched an appeal for Winnie Blagden, who will reach the milestone on Sunday, because she had no children or surviving family after the death of her husband.

On its Facebook page, BBC Radio Sheffield said she had lived in the city for her whole life but now has “little contact with the outside world”.

Some of the thousands of cards sent to Winnie Blagden, who will turn 100 on Sunday (PA)

A post on the social network calling for people to send her cards went viral, being seen by more than six million people.

It sparked a phenomenal response, seeing 16,000 cards arriving from countries including Singapore and Taiwan, more than 200 presents and countless bunches of flowers.

Winnie Blagden with radio presenter Kat Harbourne, who organised the appeal (PA)

Some groups also sent musical happy birthday messages in video form, including one from the Wales Musical Theatre Company and another from pupils at Balby Central Primary School.

BBC Radio Sheffield presented Mrs Blagden with the piles of gifts at a surprise party staff threw for her today at the city’s town hall.

Mrs Blagden reportedly said: “Everything has been lovely, I'm not used to it. I don't know why they're making all this fuss but I want to thank everyone, it's been beautiful.”

Musical messages for Winnie keep popping up in our inbox. The latest is this video from the Wales Musical Theatre Company. Sing along and give them a like!

Posted by BBC Radio Sheffield on Wednesday, 20 May 2015

Earlier this year, an 11-year-old boy from Devon received a hundreds of birthday cards and a present from Nasa last month, after his mother put a plea on Facebook.

Molly-Mole Povey, from Newton Abbot, Devon, set up a Facebook page for her son Roman because he admitted he had no friends at school.

In another display of generosity, a French man with Down’s syndrome was sent 30,000 birthday cards from around the world.

The postal service reportedly had to use a lorry to deliver the mountain of envelopes and parcels sent to Manuel Parisseaux in Calais in November last year.