Age Without Limits
“I prefer the phrase ‘renaissance’ to ‘retirement’”
Ageism can be incredibly damaging. It limits older people through assumptions, not because of their actual ability. It affects how they’re treated in everyday interactions, education and the workplace, and it makes people feel devalued.
June 10th is Age Without Limits Day. The campaign by the Centre for Ageing Better aims to “create a society where everyone enjoys later life free from the impact of ageism.”
It’s a vision that’s very close to our hearts, as all our residents are over 60. Several of them are still in paid employment and many are still very active in the community in other ways, including through volunteering. As one of our residents, Siobhan, says, “Volunteering is a way of giving something back and helping others. It gives one a good feeling.”
Several of our team members are also over 60, including our Head of Grants and Community, Paul Robson, who joined us aged 65. He says, “I was working for Age UK, but I wanted to move to a smaller organisation with more of a local focus, where I could see the impact first hand.”
Changing jobs can be challenging at any age, but even more so when you’re approaching retirement. One in three people aged over 50 believes they’ve been turned down for a job because of their age, and the situation is likely to be even more difficult for those over 60.
As Carl Honoré wrote for Age Without Limits, “Older employees are routinely passed over for promotion, discarded first in hard times, denied training or given unfulfilling work.”
Paul says, “I did think, ‘They’re going to see from my CV how old I am, realise that I’m approaching state pension age and worry about how long I’m going to stay.’”
While ageism is a barrier at many organisations, we value experience. Paul has now been working at Hammersmith United Charities, part-time, for over three years. He’s considering stopping paid work next year when he turns 69. However, as he explains, “I prefer the phrase ‘renaissance’ to ‘retirement’. There’s this myth that as you get older, there’s an inevitable decline, and that when you stop paid work, it’s downhill, physically and mentally, from there. Losing the routine and structure of paid work does scare me a little, as does losing the sense of identity you get from paid work, but actually, this time can be really exciting.
“We all do a mixture of things throughout our lives – a bit of paid work, a bit of learning, a bit of caring for others, a bit of leisure time, maybe a bit of community work. How you balance that and use your time, effort, mental energy and physical energy, is in flux throughout your life; the size of each slice of the pie changes. There was a time when the caring slice of my pie was quite large, but now that’s smaller and I’ve slowly been reducing paid work while increasing my community work.”
Paul currently volunteers with Age UK Richmond and with Cocoon – a charity for young people leaving care. He wants to take up more volunteering opportunities once he’s finished paid work. Alongside volunteering, Paul is planning to make the most of his free time by staying physically and mentally active. Amongst other things, he wants to delve into philosophy and learn tai chi. As he says, “‘Lifelong learning’ might be a bit of a cliché, but it really is so important.”
One of Paul’s favourite pastimes is hiking in Scotland and the Lake District, particularly hill and mountain walking. “The Munros in Scotland are peaks above 3,000 feet. I’ve done around 68 of them. Some people try to climb all 282. A few years ago, a 79-year-old guy decided to do them all, and he did it in two years. I don’t think I’ll attempt that, but I do enjoy the experience of being outdoors and the physical and mental challenge of six-to-eight-hour walks, up three or four thousand feet, over 16 or so kilometres.
“I’m in a fairly privileged position in terms of health. I’ve invested in that by keeping active and through lifestyle changes, including drinking less and improving my diet.
“It’s all about investing in myself for the future.”
