Episode 3 Paul O'Grady: The Sally Army and Me

There'd be a lot of people who would say that me

and the Salvation Army are strange bedfellows

and it is an unholy alliance.

But at many different times throughout my life,

our paths have crossed.

Somehow, it works.

So now, on the 150th anniversary year...

Oh, here we go!

..for the next three months,

I'll be working with the officers and volunteers...

Vegetable soup.

-Fantastic!

-Did you enjoy that?

-Oh, it was wonderful!

..on my very own Salvation Army training course.

Do you know? You're putting me off old age with all this.

I'll be travelling up and down the country...

If it hadn't have worked out for me, I could be in your position now.

Thank you. You're welcome.

Look at the size of him!

..and even overseas.

Too much.

EXCITED SCREAMS

Tonight...

I'm going to start with once upon a time.

..believe it or not, I end up giving a Bible class.

Go easy on her!

You have to shout, love!

I train to walk a mile in someone else's shoes...

I'm spinning. I'm going, where am I going, lovey?

People don't realise the sacrifices that you make.

..and I face my biggest fear.

I'm not scared of death at all,

but I'm more scared of losing me marbles.

Come here, you.

And if I make it through, they've promised me

I can lead the Salvation Army band down London's busiest high street.

It's fabulous.

Over the last month,

I've been getting stuck into my training with the Salvation Army.

How fabulous.

Captain Jo has been teaching me what it takes.

You've well and truly passed this test, Paul.

I've spent time working with the homeless community in Bournemouth...

You're welcome.

..helped a man who once slept rough start his life again.

Seriously, I wish you all the luck in the world. Come here.

And I've learned how to pass on life skills to young people in need.

I've got to get on the bus like this!

Although, I'll be honest, they showed me a thing or two.

Now I'm up for my next challenge.

I'm here now to do the next bit of me training.

Because if you want to be a soldier of God, you have to train,

you just don't walk in.

So I'm going through the whole rigmarole.

So I don't know what they've got in store for me today,

but I'm looking forward to it, to tell you the truth.

It's all very interesting,

especially for an old sinner like me.

Paul's spent time with lots of different people so far

and we're a Christian church,

so I want him to understand that vital part of who we are.

So for this next bit of training, I want Paul to share a Bible

story with some children who come here for an after-school club.

Regardless of faith, anybody who wants to be a volunteer

needs to be able to share those values.

Our opinions clash on religion.

They really do clash.

I mean, they're committed Christians, I'm not,

by any standard.

I was brought up a Roman Catholic.

We used to have a thing in the hall, like a holy water font.

It was like a glass thing, with a Virgin Mary on it,

that you poured holy water on.

So while my Aunty Chrissie was on the phone,

she used to flick her ash in it. Me mother used to go insane.

Insane!

Cos when you'd bless yourself, you go, "What's that?"

You'd have all this ash all over you

because Auntie Chris - she'd be putting a bet on - she would...

-So this is the Holy Bible, I gather, yes?

-Yep.

I wanted to bring you up here just to show you,

because we've talked a lot about the do-gooding stuff,

all the charity work and the community work.

But at the very, very heart of the Salvation Army is our faith.

This is pretty old, isn't it? Look at it.

-This was William Bramwell Booth's.

-That was his original Bible?

This was his Bible.

Methodist minister William Booth

was the founder of the Salvation Army.

It all started 150 years ago in London's East End,

when his son Bramwell told him about all the people sleeping

rough on the banks of the Thames.

William simply told him, "Go and do something."

And that simple message is the foundation of the Salvation Army.

From the very beginning, they've demonstrated their Christian faith

by taking to the streets and offering support to those in need.

This is the cornerstone of who we are, so all the charity work...

-This is like the textbook, this is your manual, basically?

-Yeah.

And there's no way we could introduce you, as a volunteer,

without explaining why we believe what we believe

and where it all comes from.

-There are bits in there that will make you go...

-Nah.

-..but you have to look at the big story.

-The big picture.

That idea about comfort and hope, and that this isn't over,

that there's somewhere I'm going that's going to be even better than this was.

See, I'd love to believe that there's an afterlife,

I really would.

But the cynical side of me says, "No, we're just like

"any other organic material."

-We just wither, go back to dust. Dust to dust.

-Yeah.

But I'd like to think that there's this magical,

illuminated escalator, were you go up, you know?

Bit of razzmatazz!

And the clouds part, and St Peter's there, saying,

"Oh, we've been expecting you. Right, let's go through the book.

"Now, in 1971..." And go through your list of crimes and sins.

And then you go in and see the boss.

I feel the need for something spiritual,

but I find myself getting tied up in knots

and going down various avenues and thinking,

"That doesn't make sense to me, that."

Asking questions, being allowed to doubt, that's really important.

Something that we do constantly is we have to try

and make this 2,000-year-old piece of work make sense to people.

If we can bring it down and change the language

into a language that children understand. And not just children,

but older people who maybe need to hear a more poetic language,

or somebody in a prison, who just wants to hear it straight.

We teach the cadets here to be able to take a story from the Bible

and communicate it to all different groups,

so we're going to look at how you could do that with some children.

-Me?!

-You.

-You are joking!

-Because your background...

-You want me to do a Bible class for children?

-Yeah.

-Really?

-Really.

And what do you want me to tell them? The Good Samaritan?

Well, I think this is a good story because it's about loving God

and loving your neighbour. That's a timeless, Salvation Army classic.

I've never done anything like that before. This is a first for me.

-Yeah.

-So fingers crossed. Do you want me to turn it into a musical?

Oh, now you're talking!

You could have the poor guy who's been beaten up by the robbers sitting up and singing...

# They always, always pick on me! #

-Bring it.

-How's that?

-Done.

# Welcome to Holiday Inn! # Hallelujah, sister!

In the Salvation Army, we work with a whole spectrum of people -

people of different colour, different creed,

different religion, and none, and people of all age groups.

Let's see how he copes.

-Are you ready?

-I am.

-We're going to go and meet some of these young people.

-Wonderful.

And you're going to tell them that story.

I'm doing my Bible class to the children

of all the cadets and tutors here,

so there's no pressure then(!)

This is going to be awesome. Are you ready?

Do I believe in God? Oh, dear...

OK, Paul, so I wanted to introduce...

EXCITED SCREAMS

Hello!

Look at you lot!

Put it this way, when I'm hanging

60 foot on the end of a wire in panto,

I always say, "Please, God, please, God,

"don't let this rope snap and I'll never be bad again."

So I'm going to need some volunteers now for this

because we're going to act this out.

Who we going to have?

-I think Zoe would be really good, she's a very good actress.

-OK, Zoe.

-Now, who do you want to be, Zoe?

-Man on the road.

OK, who wants to be the bad robbers?

We need three absolutely rotten...

THEY SHOUT OVER EACH OTHER

Do you want to be working in the inn with me, in the hotel?

Do you fancy that?

So you can be on reception and I'm the manager, you see?

Now, I'm going to start with once upon a time

because all good stories start with once upon a time, don't they?

This merchant is going along, there here is.

Meanwhile, hiding behind the rock,

terrifying, EVIL robbers,

attack the poor merchant...

That's it. Go easy on her!

I'd like to think there was,

but the image of the man with the big, white beard

sat on a throne in the clouds, that's long vanished.

And the poor man's lying there going, "Help me."

Say it, go on, say your line. That's it, bit louder.

-They can't hear you in the cheap seats.

-Help me!

-That's it.

LAUGHTER

So what he did, this kind man, helped the merchant up

and he took the merchant down to the nearest inn,

which was basically a hotel.

Now you shout, I'm outside, shout, "Mr O'Grady!

"You're wanted in reception."

-You're wanted.

-Good boy.

And this kind Samaritan,

he said, "Would you please look after this man for me?"

So what do you think the moral of this story is?

-Always help people.

-That's right.

It doesn't matter if they're a different culture from you.

That's right, exactly. And that's the story of the Good Samaritan.

It's been an absolute pleasure

and we'll see each other very soon, yeah?

But it seems there's no escaping!

You were fabulous as a robber.

Yeah. And you, you were all good.

You were brilliant!

I feel like Maria von Trapp!

Phew, I'm too old for kids!

Well, that was a tough crowd, I'll tell you,

and I've worked some tough houses in my time.

No, seriously, they were a joy. They were an absolute joy.

And I'm amazed because I never thought I'd see the day where

I'd be doing a Bible reading to children, but there you go.

And I think it's very relevant, that tale, the Good Samaritan, for today,

with what's going on in Syria and around the world.

And maybe it wouldn't do any of us

any harm to show a bit of tolerance and a bit of kindness

to people of different religions, different faiths.

I'm learning quite a lot really, as I'm going along, doing all this.

Quite a lot indeed.

Humility, mainly,

is something I've learned.

Of course, I'm very humble.

Some of the training exercises that we do here are based on the Bible

and I really want Paul to understand,

with the next bit of training,

what it might feel like to walk a mile in someone else's shoes.

I'm sending Paul to Glasgow

to meet with an older person who's living with severe ill health.

And there's a module, a training module that we're going to use,

to help him understand what it might feel like to be her.

And although Paul is only young at heart, older people that

work in our older people services know the value of empathy.

Now, why have I got a crash helmet? I'm not going up a ladder, am I?

Or decorating or cleaning your gutters?

We need to give you a bit of training to experience what

it might feel like to be an older person.

Oh, I know what that feels like, don't you worry!

This is the age simulation system.

It gives you an idea about what it might feel like to be restricted in your movement.

-So how old are we talking here?

-75-plus.

-Right, OK.

Back when the Salvation Army was first started,

life expectancy was just 40.

Hello, my darling!

Now, on average, we live to over 80.

And, amazingly, there are more people in the UK aged 60

and above then there are under 18.

The Sally Army are one of the biggest care providers

for the elderly in this country.

So, first of all, we have this very attractive suit.

Are these radioactive pensioners that we're dealing with?

I'm not that sure if putting on a boiler suit

and a hard hat is going to make me feel like a 75-year-old.

We do this with the cadets because,

when they go to old people's homes,

or when they organise stuff in their centres,

we want them to understand something from someone else's perspective

because it's really easy for us to judge someone's life

-when we've never actually lived it.

-Exactly.

So we do that across the board,

to try and understand somebody else's life.

So they would dress up in this suit.

But it does actually make you feel a bit kind of...uncomfortable?

-No, not really.

-Well, we'll fix that soon enough.

These have been tinted yellow because, when people get older,

-there's a natural yellowing of the vision.

-Is there?

-Yeah.

They feel a bit heavier round the shoulders.

These restrict what you can hear...

-MUFFLED:

-..which could make the next five minutes REALLY INTERESTING!

-You have to shout, love!

-I'll have to shout now!

-I can't hear a word!

Yes, I'm going to shout the rest of it!

What I want to do,

is I want you to know what it feels like to have curvature of the spine.

It doesn't happen to everybody, but so many people face it.

So I'm going to anchor you, from one up there.

Has it got hooks in this hat or something?

There we go.

-Can you feel a bit of a tension there?

-Yeah.

-Right.

-Does that feel all right?

-Yep.

Oh, ping!

Do you know what? I'm going to kill somebody when I walk past them,

aren't I? This is going to fly off.

How does that feel?

Yeah, it just feels odd.

Let's put your gloves on.

When people get older,

very often you feel like you can't pick up things in the same way.

You know, you're putting me off old age with all this.

This is the reality we want to try and get across to people.

Now, we're going to somehow get these on your shoes.

It will make you feel quite unsteady, having slippy feet.

I know this sounds silly, but I feel quite delicate in all this.

Yeah, that's a good word to use.

You know, a bit like...

-Fancy a bit of a walk?

-Yeah, go on then.

-Come on then.

-Where shall we go?

-Is there anybody out there?

There might be a few people that might see you.

-We'll keep going round?

-See, I'm doing all this.

Because you don't know where I am!

I'm spinning, going, "Where am I going, lovey? This way?"

MUFFLED ENVIRONMENT SOUNDS

Over 50 cadets are studying here at the moment

and practical exercises like this are key to their training.

-We'll go this way.

-Don't ask!

I'm an elderly person.

-They're looking at us, laughing.

-They're all staring at you...

I'm elderly, don't be laughing at me! Thank you very much.

Evil. Dragging me round, dressed up like this, with the other cadets

and teachers staring and laughing at me -

that doesn't feel very Christian.

I'm very impressed with the way you're coping with this.

It's funny, I'm tilting to the side now. I think I'm having a stroke.

They're all looking at me like I'm insane.

They've all had to do this, remember.

So, the challenge might be the stairs.

Now this would be very daunting for an elderly person.

Shall I go ahead of you, or should I walk behind you?

You better had, in case I fall. You know what I'm like.

I've already had two hip replacements,

I'm not having another one.

Does it feel heavy at all? Does it feel more laboured?

I'll tell you what it is, Jo, it's this. It pulls you down.

-I'm walking like an old person.

-That's exactly it.

As Betty Davis said, "Old age is no place for sissies."

-And it's very true, it really is.

-Yeah.

And what we can't show you in this suit

is all the changes that happen within someone's mind.

There's no way we can communicate to you what it feels like to

lose memory, or what it feels like to not recognise somebody any more,

and that's one of the major things that you're going to see

when you go to the elderly care homes.

And you're going to be able to make connections with people whose

-long-term, and sometimes short-term, memory is gone.

-Oh, please...

But that's one of the things that we do. And we can offer hope there.

It feels overwhelming, but it's not hopeless.

-Have you had enough?

-I have had enough.

-We'll get you back to Paul then.

-OK then.

-Come on, let's go and take it off.

-Look, I'm doing me walk.

I have to say that wearing that lot was very unpleasant

and I'm really glad to get it off.

After a day's training, I'm being sent to Glasgow.

I'll be working with the Eva Burrows Day Care Centre,

who offer companionship and activities

for 20 pensioners every day.

Most of whom suffer from dementia,

one of the fastest-growing diseases in the UK.

-Good morning, how are you?

-Fine, thank you!

Come on, Babyface, let's get you in!

Around 225,000 of us will develop dementia this year.

That's one every three minutes.

# You have the cutest little Babyface... #

Keep me on me feet, I'll tell you!

Get yourself in.

How are you this morning, Nancy?

-Not bad at all.

-Oh, good, good.

-I hope your singing voice is good this morning.

-Always is.

-Yes!

-This is Georgie.

-Hello, Georgie, lovely to meet you.

Come on, love, let's get you in.

81-year-old Georgie's dementia is so advanced

that she can no longer live alone and is looked after

by daughter-in-law Marie, with help from granddaughter Claire.

Gran, do you know it's Sophie and Georgia?

And who am I?

-Oh, I don't know what's what!

-No!

Claire.

-Hmm?

-She's Claire.

I'm Claire.

-Oh, you're Claire, aye.

-Uh-huh!

Georgie has spent her whole life in Glasgow.

She used to work in a hat factory, was married for 35 years,

and had two children,

but now dementia has taken many of her life memories away.

And for me, that's a terrifying thought.

I'm more scared of old age than death. I'm not scared of death at all.

Been there twice, so I'm not bothered.

But I'm more scared of old age and of losing me marbles.

Georgie visits four times a week to give her family a break.

The aim of our centre is to make people happy,

to make people laugh, to enjoy life as much as they can.

We've got to make people's journey with dementia

as fulfilling as it possibly can be.

Just slither into the back. There you go, Jessie.

Sandra tells me that the best way to communicate with them

is to talk about the past.

Oh, my lord, look at this!

Listen, I remember things like this!

What are you doing, trying to put years on me?

Here's me mother's china service.

-And all the old tins as well.

-That's right, aye.

We live in the past here.

They can't remember what happened ten minutes ago, an hour ago,

so we try and bring out the past.

And if they can communicate about the past, that's what we do.

Everything in this room is designed to trigger memories

and fire up the senses,

even your sense of smell.

-Have a wee whiff at that, Paul.

-OK, it's not cat wee, is it?

No, you're all right.

Oh! Sorry.

It's like lavender.

Whenever I smell lavender, I always think of old ladies' drawers

because... No! Because they'd make...

-No, because they used to make lavender bags and put it in with their knickers.

-That's right.

I'll need to mind and get my lavender out of the drawers tonight, Paul.

-Do you have singsongs?

-Aye, we have singsongs every day, Paul,

because people relate to music.

-And what do they sing, is it old songs?

-Oh, yes.

I can give them a good rousing chorus of...

# I belong to Glasgow

# Dear old Glasgow town. #

Normally I have to have a drink in me before I get up and sing.

I'll give you a can of cola, we're laughing.

Before I spend time with Georgie,

Sandra introduces me to some of the early-stage sufferers,

like 75-year-old Jessie.

Hello, how are you? Nice to see you all. What are you knitting?

-Squares for the cat and dog home.

-Oh, good on you.

Florence was a Land Girl.

Oh, in the Army? In the war?

The uniforms were gorgeous. Your tight white blouse and your tie.

-He must have thought, wow, what's this?!

-They were OK, the uniforms.

There's our John.

-John, you've cycled all over the world, nearly, haven't you, John?

-Yes.

-Can I ask you, John, how old are you?

-I'm 94.

Now this man is the perfect example of why

we should cycle everywhere, really!

Just got to see past dementia.

That's all part of our job. There are always ways of communicating

and you always can get through to somebody.

You've just got to go along with them and make them feel

-something different today, you know?

-Exactly.

-You're special.

-Yeah.

It's a lot easier to talk with sufferers

in the early stages of dementia.

The biggest challenge here is trying to communicate with someone,

like Georgie, in the advanced stages.

-We'll go through and have a wee chat, will we?

-OK.

-Hi, Anne.

-There you go.

-Here we are.

-Georgie.

-Hello, we met when you were getting off the coach, Georgie.

-Did you enjoy your lunch?

-What?

-Did you enjoy your lunch?

To make it even harder, Georgie's losing her hearing,

so Sandra's told me to raise my voice so she can hear me.

-Did you enjoy lunch?

-Aye.

There we go. This gentleman's come down to have a wee word with you.

-I thought that.

-You thought that?

-I'm going to help you to wash up.

-What?

I'm going to help you wash the dishes!

LAUGHTER

I think they heard that in Bonnyrigg!

I think they heard that in Liverpool.

-I had, actually.

-Did you?

-She knows she's washing the dishes.

-I'm drying, you're washing!

Yeah? I'm going to dry, you wash.

Is that OK?

I'm getting on me own nerves here!

I know.

Georgie, this gentleman's going to help you do the dishes.

Is that OK?

She's not bothered.

She thinks, if he's daft enough to do it, then let him.

Right, come on, you, through with me.

I'll get the kitchen prepared. OK?

-All right.

-Right, Georgie.

-See you in a minute, Georgie.

That was harder than I expected.

It's all the others roaring laughing made me laugh, up the back.

Ugh.

Communication is so important here

and I think I failed miserably then.

Georgie is very content doing the washing up,

and I'm going to join her and see if I can do better this time.

-All right, Paul, you're coming to give us a wee hand?

-I am.

I believe you need a drier-upper.

There you go. There you go.

I'm going to dry up, Georgie.

-You're a big help, Georgie, around here.

-Thanks very much.

She's speed of lightning here, washing these dishes.

They got you working, Georgie, haven't they?

-They've got you working?

-Eh?

That's it, now, Georgie.

You're worth your weight in gold, Georgie, aren't you?

Och, I don't know what's what.

-There's some there.

-What about these ones?

-I'm drying them.

That's it, Georgie, we're done now.

You all cleaned up, Georgie?

Ready for the next lot.

Thank you very much.

It might not seem like much, but Georgie is starting to communicate.

The simple act of doing something familiar is working miracles.

-Oh, we're in a dancing mood now.

-Oh, Georgie's singing.

Give us a song, Georgie.

# Ave Maria

# Oh, my love, my love

# Now and forever. #

-Cut!

-APPLAUSE

-Well done, Georgie!

-Wahey, Georgie! Wahey, Georgie!

Clean plates and a song,

and suddenly all is right in the world again.

For now, anyway.

It's an emotional roller-coaster,

dealing with someone with advanced dementia.

I can't imagine what it's like living with it 24 hours a day.

She's a real character. She's in there singing her heart out now.

-She's giving it the full Ave Maria.

-She loves singing.

With all the hand actions, the whole thing.

But how are you coping with her?

-Because she's living with you now?

-Yeah, she's does stay with us.

-It's good and it's bad.

-Yeah.

We used to have a good time, didn't we?

We used to able to show her pictures and stuff, and say, "Who's that?"

She doesn't recognise pictures of my grandad.

That's quite upsetting.

Have you noticed she's getting progressively worse

-or anything like that?

-She no longer recognises who I am.

-You're joking! Really?

-No.

-That must be heart-breaking for you.

-It is.

It's hard, but I'm going to make sure I keep that relationship

with her because she's my gran.

I go and see her nearly every day

and she doesn't know who I am.

She just thinks I'm a carer... she doesn't know any more.

-And that's hard to comes to terms with.

-It's really, really difficult.

It is. Listen, there's nothing harder

than to see your loved ones who, this time last year,

you could sit down with and have a sensible conversation.

And now, you're just making sure they get through the day safely.

Have you found this place really useful?

I don't know where we'd be without it.

Really. Honestly.

It gives us such a break.

People don't realise, I think, the sacrifices that you make in your own

life when you're caring for somebody with Alzheimer's and dementia.

So keep your chin up, you're doing marvellous.

Seriously, you really are.

Come here, you.

It's heart-breaking when somebody who's been your parent

suddenly says, "Who are you?"

That must be the worst thing ever.

Ta-ra, sweetheart. See you around.

I'll be honest with you, it terrifies me.

But I'd sooner have dementia than a stroke.

Not that I'm being offered either, but if I was,

because you can drift off then, and go back into the past,

where you were probably happy.

MUSIC: The Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss II

I'll wait until I'm asked.

Anyone want a dance?

Not happening.

Are we having a dance?

-Come on, love.

-Yes, thank you, my darling.

-Right, we ready?

-I'm not the best waltzer in the world.

-Neither am I.

-We're well-suited then, me and you.

-Yes.

Isn't this lovely? Bit of Jonathan Strauss.

It wasn't Jonathan, it was Johann Strauss.

It's Johann Strauss?

Oh, yes, it is, you're right!

Thank you for your dance, madame.

Nice way to spend an afternoon, isn't it?

-With a fine gentleman in my arms.

-Exactly.

-A man who's travelled the world.

-There you go, John.

Has he got a few bob? You're laughing if he has. Laughing.

Any of you old girls got a load of money saved away?

You're looking to spend on a nice toy boy?

I tell you what, these lot have taught me a thing or two today.

I think he's excelled himself today, I think he was wonderful.

I would employ him any time.

Are we having a song, Georgie?

ALL SING

And they're such lovely people.

We don't look after the elderly in this country,

we don't treat them with enough respect.

They're seen as doddery old people, going down the street with a Zimmer frame.

They could've been a spy in the war, you don't know what they've done.

They could've had remarkable lives and we tend to dismiss them,

and that is wrong.

So let's get that sorted out, eh?

Because I'm getting that way.

Ahem. Right, I'm off. I'll see you, ta-ra!

Taxi!

Next time, I learn how the Salvation Army are helping

hard-working people who can't afford to feed their kids.

Do you skimp meals so the kids eat?

-Yeah.

-You can't do that.

-No, I know.

-You've got to look after yourself.

I put some tough questions to the big boss.

Because I know so many men and women who are gay and lesbian.

They'd be the most wonderful officers.

And I travel right across Europe

to witness the refugee crisis first-hand.

Just go, just go, leave these people alone.