Vulnerable groups in society have become increasingly targeted. One such group are pensioners. Since they are older, sometimes frailer and in some cases in need of help, they are portrayed as valueless, a burden to society. It is an outrageous stereotype.
The findings in the Council of Europe’s report, aimed at promoting human rights for older people, were clear. As if getting older wasn’t hard enough, older people continue to suffer from isolation, exclusion and discrimination as a result of negative stereotyping. Ageing is definitely not for wimps.
Crime against pensioners is mounting. While homicide has decreased for most age groups, it has risen for ages 55 to 63 and 75 years and over. Just one of the recent tragedies was the killing of a grandfather, Bhim Kohli, while walking his dog in Leicestershire. He was assaulted, kicked and spat on by teenagers, including a 12-year-old girl.
Government support is deteriorating
We lag behind many European countries in our national pension scheme, only spending 2% of public social spending as opposed to 9% in Germany. A House of Commons report showed that the Netherlands pays a single pensioner around £90 a week more than the UK – a colossal difference.
Pensioners have contributed their National Insurance payments for decades on the expectation it will pay towards their pensions. Now pensioners live in fear of getting nothing. The triple lock is continually under fire. Axing the winter fuel payment was one of the very first things Rachel Reeves did as a Chancellor, closely followed by the decision to include unspent pension pots in inheritance tax capital assessments from 2027. Pensioners’ lifetime planning has been utterly destroyed. That leaves many unable to live, with over two million pensioners living in poverty.
Small wonder many older people are left feeling worthless. Even when the very opposite is true.
Sussex pensioners proving age is just a number
Sussex has a raft of celebrity pensioners making massive contributions to the economy.
A non-exhaustive list includes Jayne Torvill of Dancing on Ice, actors Lesley Manville and Dame Julie Walters, Sir Paul McCartney, TV chef and novelist Rosemary Shrager, Gruffalo creator Julia Donaldson, and Roger Daltrey, going on the road again this year at 80.
It isn’t just superstars who remain active. Many pensioners opt to use their time to raise money for others. Take Pauline Perkins from Eastbourne, who at 83 took up sky diving to raise money for the international charity Tearfund. Age and circumstances do not deter older people either, as retired teacher the late Joan Willet from Hastings proved at the age of 103, when she walked 17 miles up and down outside her care home to raise £60,000 for the British Heart Foundation during the pandemic.
Many opt to keep working. Eastbourne journalist and former Controller of Information at Sky Television Tony Flood retired in 2010, after decades of working with the stars of showbusiness and leisure. Yet he still works, remaining a successful author in several genres, including crime, where his thrillers are endorsed by PD James. He also keeps up his theatre reviews for several local media outlets.
Pensioners building businesses
Some build businesses to change lives. Research finds reading for pleasure among children is at a historic low, with only one in five reading daily. Yet a love of reading is one of the most important factors in improving learning, life chances and well-being. Having retired from teaching on health grounds, Polly Atkinson from Worthing launched Children Reading for Life, which takes a unique collaborative approach involving family members and other caregivers to help children develop a lifelong passion for reading and change their life chances.
Sylvia Holder and Lindsay Swan co-founded Holder Swan Public Relations. During a business trip to India many years ago, Hove resident Sylvia met a young boy called Venkat on the beach. Impressed and charmed, Sylvia offered to pay for his school fees, and Venkat justified her faith in him by later graduating from Madras University.
Tragically, Venkat was killed in a road accident, aged only 27. Sylvia returned to the village intending to buy a small memorial for him, but when she saw the terrible conditions of the only school there, with no furniture, few textbooks and no qualified teachers, she instead set up the Venkat Trust as his memorial. Sylvia was 65 at this point.
Sylvia and Lindsay are still actively involved today and now nearly 20 years later, their achievements are staggering. The village has become a Centre for Educational Excellence, offering education from kindergarten to university, including a 1000-pupil secondary school. The Trust also sponsors students from the poorest backgrounds for university studies. Graduates have become doctors, scientists, barristers, and AI and IT engineers. Sylvia and Lindsay continue to expand the facilities and raise funds, including their latest venture, Accidental Lives, a book about their work.
Pensioners changing lives
Society increasingly undervalues older people, yet it is impossible to compute how many lives are changed for the better by their contributions. They continue to raise money, create jobs, provide education and entertain us through music and books, despite the harsh challenges of ageing. Yet we hear no recognition, nor a wisp of compassion.
I am reminded of the late great Dame Maggie Smith, who worked up to a year before her death at 89. One can only imagine what the Dowager Countess of Grantham from Downton Abbey might have to say to ‘Rachel from Accounts’. Perhaps she would revive one of her most famous lines: “It always happens when you give these little people power. It goes to their heads like strong drink.”
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