Age Concern retirement party
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00:00We should all sing, for she's a jolly good fellow, do you agree with that?
00:05Yes.
00:06And I've got a lovely singing voice, so will you all follow me?
00:11For she's a jolly good fellow, for she's a jolly good fellow,
00:17for she's a jolly good fellow, and so say all of us.
00:23Your last day, you're retiring today, how do you feel?
00:28Sad, but it's time, you know, it's time to go on to pastures new, really.
00:37A little bit of excitement as well.
00:39Yeah, a bit of apprehension, and worried people weren't going to turn up, but yeah.
00:47So how long have you worked as an agent for the Borough Centre?
00:50For the Borough Centre, 17 years, 17 years last month.
00:55So you've been kind of managing it here, so I know obviously you age yourselves,
00:59you meet up every week here, so you've kind of been running that side of it,
01:01is that what your role's been?
01:03Yeah, so my role within the centre has been to, as the manager,
01:11but to get grants into, because we're a 95% self-funded centre,
01:20and obviously the service users, getting socially isolated older people back into the community, really.
01:29Looking back 17 years, what's going to be your standout moments, or what are you going to remember most?
01:35Do you know what, I don't know, there's been so many,
01:41but the fact is, you know, when I've had relatives come to talk to me,
01:49and then say what a difference we've made to their loved ones,
01:54that is a really good, makes you feel really, really good,
01:59so that they've, it's enabled them to live their life rather than existing in four walls, really.
02:09So it's given them a sense of purpose, and improved their wellbeing, and that, so that is really good.
02:16I mean, there's been countless funny times of things that have happened,
02:22that, you know, you wouldn't think, I mean, the car park normally is a nightmare,
02:30so, you know, with older drivers, and, you know, the things that are said on the news, and that,
02:38so yes, hence why there's lots of yellow poles around the office and that,
02:44because they do like to drive into it.
02:48Yeah, kind of what you were mentioning before there, for a prize, leads us, kind of,
02:53maybe just a little bit about the service that you are providing here,
02:57and how important you think it is for the society and the community itself.
03:00Well, we provide lunch clubs three times a week.
03:04We also have a befriending service aimed at getting socially isolated people
03:11that are living independently in their homes into the centre.
03:17It might not necessarily mean the centre, but anything that is going to promote independence again.
03:25We do computer lessons, we have a podiatry service four days a week as well,
03:32so it's all focused on older people really.
03:39Well, the centre is for the over 50s, but predominantly it's about, you know,
03:46older people who perhaps have lost mobility or their physical and their mental health has deteriorated,
03:58so it's a sense of achievement when you get somebody, maybe, who has got a bit of short-term memory loss,
04:05but they know that they come to lunch every Tuesday.
04:08Rewarding work then, what you've been doing for such a long time.
04:10Are you going to miss it, are you going to miss the people?
04:13I'm definitely going to miss all the volunteers, the service users.
04:17I'm not going to miss the stress sometimes, but yeah, I definitely am going to miss it.
04:23And probably when I've taken stock and had a little bit of a rest,
04:29then I will probably go and volunteer somewhere else.