A royal visit will be the climax of celebrations at a Malvern residential home next month.

Princess Alexandra will visit Davenham Residential Home and its sister home Perrins House, in Graham Road, on Tuesday, April 19.

It will be the highlight of centenary celebrations for Friends of the Elderly, the charity that has run the homes since 1978.

Charity spokesman Hulio Romo said: "The Princess is our president and this being our centenary year, we're very privileged to have such a prestigious visitor to Malvern."

Charity chief executive Richard Furze visited both homes last Thursday, to give a presentation to staff and residents.

He spoke about the history of the home, which was given to the charity by Mrs Dyson Perrins, and handed round scrapbooks and photograph albums.

"The residents liked it because they could remember the people and places," said Mr Furze.

Elaine Kayes, who has lived at the home for six years, said she found the talk very interesting.

"It's nice to know what happened in the past and about the history of the home," she said.

Mr Furze also outlined the changes in the charity since it was launched as Friends of the Poor 100 years ago.

"It did very different things then, like helping the destitute in the east end of London, including young children and prostitutes.

"Though it has changed, our aim is still helping people to remain as independent as possible."

Mr Furze said the charity's home care service, launched recently, was working very well and it was hoping to launch more services for patients with dementia.

"We're lucky here to have a strong support group, a wonderful bunch of volunteers, who take residents out on shopping trips and entertain them," he said.