0:00:02 > 0:00:04This is the life.
0:00:05 > 0:00:07The chance to visit a museum or two.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12A touch of retail therapy.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16Becoming a lady who lunches.
0:00:16 > 0:00:17SHE SIGHS
0:00:17 > 0:00:19The things I'll have time for when I retire.
0:00:23 > 0:00:28Today, finding fulfilment after a glamorous life as a model.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31The man who retired not once but three times.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35And giving up the job you love when you're only in your 30s.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38Plus treasured hymns from around the country
0:00:38 > 0:00:42and special performances from Tessera and Lara Martin.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51How old would you like to be when you retire?
0:00:51 > 0:00:5350?
0:00:53 > 0:00:5460?
0:00:54 > 0:00:59In this difficult economic climate, some people are working till 70.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01And even beyond that.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07The composer of our first hymn, Basil Harwood,
0:01:07 > 0:01:13retired from his job as an organist in 1909, when he was just 50.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17But this great hymn reminds us that, from age to age,
0:01:17 > 0:01:20God is there to guide us along the way.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51Elizabeth and Ralph Howell
0:03:51 > 0:03:54had both spent many happy years working as teachers.
0:03:54 > 0:03:59We retired in 1995. Ralph was 60.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03We wanted to get to New Zealand and hire a camper van
0:04:03 > 0:04:05and do wonderful things round there.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07The one thing we did manage to do
0:04:07 > 0:04:11was to get to New England and see the fall.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14- And it was glorious.- Yeah. - Glorious, yes.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16But their retirement plans changed
0:04:16 > 0:04:19when Ralph decided to train to be a vicar.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Ralph started on an ordination course
0:04:22 > 0:04:24three years into our retirement.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Three days before he was due to be ordained,
0:04:27 > 0:04:29at three o'clock in the morning,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32he was thrashing around in bed
0:04:32 > 0:04:35and we realised he had had a major stroke.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37I just could not, in that time, take it in
0:04:37 > 0:04:41and understand why this could possibly have happened.
0:04:41 > 0:04:46So it's 12 years on from that stroke now. How are you?
0:04:46 > 0:04:50- You can...walk.- Walk all right. - Yes, walk a bit.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52- But you can't...- No.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55- You have very little...- Speech.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00But Ralph didn't want the stroke to stop all his plans.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Ralph felt that when he was doing his training
0:05:03 > 0:05:04that what he would like to do
0:05:04 > 0:05:08would be particularly to focus on work with older people.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11So we were looking at ways that we might, even with the stroke,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15be able to still fulfil that ambition.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17CHATTER
0:05:17 > 0:05:20We started what we called our not-home-alone lunch,
0:05:20 > 0:05:21because it's only for people
0:05:21 > 0:05:24who would normally be eating at home alone.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26The idea was that it should be
0:05:26 > 0:05:29- as close to the family meal as we could make it.- Yeah.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31And we have a very short quiet time
0:05:31 > 0:05:34when people can pray if they want to.
0:05:35 > 0:05:41So, Ralph, how can you pray if you aren't able to say it in words?
0:05:43 > 0:05:45It's...different.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48- But it's from your...- Heart.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50And sometimes...
0:05:50 > 0:05:56- um...you come along...- And you can just...- ..holding hands.
0:05:56 > 0:05:57And...
0:05:59 > 0:06:03..pray and...it's...
0:06:03 > 0:06:08I don't know, but it's...lovely.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11So, your retirement didn't quite work out as planned?
0:06:11 > 0:06:13No, it certainly didn't.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15The vision that we had of what we might do
0:06:15 > 0:06:17wasn't going to be there,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20but obviously God had other plans for us.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23And they've been very rewarding.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Retirement seems to be hot news nowadays.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11The pension age is going up, so we all have to work longer,
0:09:11 > 0:09:13but our household bills are going up, too,
0:09:13 > 0:09:17which means that many pensioners are living almost in poverty
0:09:17 > 0:09:19as they struggle to make ends meet.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21But often it's not a lack of money
0:09:21 > 0:09:25that's the greatest challenge in retirement, but a lack of purpose.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK
0:09:27 > 0:09:32Yvonne Paul retired nine years ago, when she was 59,
0:09:32 > 0:09:34and found that giving up work was rather depressing
0:09:34 > 0:09:37after her glamorous life in the world of modelling.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39MUSIC: "Girls On Film" by Duran Duran
0:09:39 > 0:09:43I started... Oh, it must've been...about 1965.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47Um...I was Elizabeth Taylor's stand-in.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49Um...my best moment
0:09:49 > 0:09:53was being dragged out of a bath by Michael Caine.
0:09:54 > 0:10:01And then in...1971, I started my own model agency.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05It was very glamorous, it was very glitzy, particularly in those days.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09We were invited to premieres, parties, book launches.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12I was on TV a lot. I was on The Jonathan Ross Show.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14I did the Kilroy-Silk show.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17You take the rather unusual step,
0:10:17 > 0:10:19you won't actually let them wear fur?
0:10:19 > 0:10:21No. We've taken a policy as an agency
0:10:21 > 0:10:24and we have 40 models that we don't want to promote fur.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27- We think that it's obscene. - OK. Clare Francis?
0:10:27 > 0:10:31'I'd been thinking about retiring for about five years
0:10:31 > 0:10:33'before I actually did it.'
0:10:33 > 0:10:35I actually sold the agency.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39But my Friday in the office was the last Friday
0:10:39 > 0:10:41after, I think, about 37 years.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45And Monday morning, it was very, very strange
0:10:45 > 0:10:48that I didn't have to jump up at 7:30.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51It was a complete shock, actually.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54I used to say to retired friends, "What do you do all day?"
0:10:54 > 0:10:57And they said, "Well, I go shopping or I do the garden
0:10:57 > 0:11:00"and I walk the dog." And I'd think, "Yeah, well, I do that, too,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03"but it's finished by 10:30 in the morning.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06"What do you do the rest of the day?"
0:11:06 > 0:11:11I was getting increasingly frustrated...and bored.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15And...yes, I think probably depressed as well.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18I looked up all sorts of voluntary work.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21The one that really attracted me was Great Ormond Street,
0:11:21 > 0:11:25because it's such a wonderful organisation
0:11:25 > 0:11:28to be even a tiny, tiny part of.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32'My job is...ward host.
0:11:32 > 0:11:37'The ward I'm on, which is Flamingo, is the Cardiac Intensive Care ward,
0:11:37 > 0:11:39'so you might have a child going down
0:11:39 > 0:11:43'for major, very complicated heart surgery.'
0:11:43 > 0:11:46And some of these operations are eight, ten hours long
0:11:46 > 0:11:50and the parents are naturally out of their minds with worry.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54'And my job is to...just help and support the parents
0:11:54 > 0:11:55'in any way I can.'
0:11:55 > 0:11:58- Do they understand? - My seven-year-old does.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00He knows Martha's not well and he's seen her scars.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02You know, he knows.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04I would say that having the model agency,
0:12:04 > 0:12:05when I look back on it now,
0:12:05 > 0:12:07I wouldn't say it's a decadent way of life,
0:12:07 > 0:12:11but it's a very, um... materialistic way of life,
0:12:11 > 0:12:14it doesn't bring many Christian principles into it.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18Whereas working at Great Ormond Street, seeing...
0:12:18 > 0:12:20I mean, they're not miracles in one way,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23because the doctors are taught how to fix hearts,
0:12:23 > 0:12:28but it still is miraculous, the work that goes on there.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31And what I do is about caring,
0:12:31 > 0:12:37it's about being kind to people, it's about leading a Christian life.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44# God sees you
0:12:46 > 0:12:49# He knows where you are
0:12:49 > 0:12:53# You are not forgotten
0:12:53 > 0:12:55# No
0:12:55 > 0:12:58# God knows you
0:12:59 > 0:13:03# He chose you
0:13:03 > 0:13:07# You're spoken of in heaven
0:13:10 > 0:13:13# Only God
0:13:13 > 0:13:20# Only God can see
0:13:20 > 0:13:23# Inside every human heart
0:13:23 > 0:13:28# Only God
0:13:28 > 0:13:32# Really knows you
0:13:36 > 0:13:41# God made you
0:13:41 > 0:13:44# He loves you as you are
0:13:44 > 0:13:50# You are not just a face in a crowd
0:13:50 > 0:13:54# God hears you
0:13:54 > 0:13:57# He's near you
0:13:57 > 0:14:02# And he's closer than you think
0:14:05 > 0:14:08# Only God
0:14:08 > 0:14:15# Only God can see
0:14:15 > 0:14:18# Inside every human heart
0:14:18 > 0:14:22# Only God
0:14:22 > 0:14:27# Really knows you
0:14:27 > 0:14:32# You, you, you, you
0:14:32 > 0:14:35# And only God
0:14:35 > 0:14:42# Truly understands
0:14:42 > 0:14:46# The issues of the hearts
0:14:46 > 0:14:50# Only God
0:14:50 > 0:14:53# Only God
0:14:59 > 0:15:03# God hears you
0:15:03 > 0:15:06# He's near you
0:15:06 > 0:15:14# And he's closer than...you think. #
0:15:18 > 0:15:22The average Londoner can expect to meet in a week
0:15:22 > 0:15:25more people than his medieval counterpart met in a lifetime.
0:15:25 > 0:15:30David Winter has retired not once but three times.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33'The first job I retired from was at the BBC,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36'20 years at the BBC as a producer
0:15:36 > 0:15:38'and eventually Head of Religious Broadcasting.'
0:15:38 > 0:15:44I then had five and half years as a paid vicar and I retired from that.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48And then I had five years as a part-time paid vicar
0:15:48 > 0:15:50and I retired from that.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52You've obviously had a lot of practice
0:15:52 > 0:15:53at this retirement business,
0:15:53 > 0:15:55so what are the main difficulties that people face?
0:15:55 > 0:15:59Well, I think the first one is a sort of loss of status.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01I mean, people always say to you, "What do you do?"
0:16:01 > 0:16:05So if you say retired, a sort of blank look crosses their faces.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09And I suppose the other thing is the loss of the company, as it were,
0:16:09 > 0:16:10the people you worked with.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14It's also not having a structure or a shape to your day or your week.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17Yes. And some people think that'll be the nicest thing.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19"Oh, my goodness! I have had to get up every morning,
0:16:19 > 0:16:21"I've had to catch the bus, the train."
0:16:21 > 0:16:24But after a few months, it actually tends to pall,
0:16:24 > 0:16:28because you suddenly realise you're not actually doing anything.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30Does the Bible tells us anything about retirement?
0:16:30 > 0:16:34Well, to be honest, no, because they didn't retire.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37Until modern times, nobody retired.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41I think my grandfather was the first generation.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44He was given a clock, that was what he got when he left.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47We haven't got an example in the Bible of anybody retiring,
0:16:47 > 0:16:51you did what you did and then, when you couldn't do it any longer,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54they propped you in a corner of the house and gave you your meals
0:16:54 > 0:16:56and you gave them the benefit of your inspired wisdom.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01It does tell us a lot, however,
0:17:01 > 0:17:05about living life right up to the end, you know, to the full.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09So how would you suggest that people live life to the full once retired?
0:17:09 > 0:17:11My own personal experience
0:17:11 > 0:17:16is that you have more time to pray and reflect, to listen more,
0:17:16 > 0:17:21to be a good friend, a good partner, a good father, grandfather.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23To be all the things that really God has called us to be
0:17:23 > 0:17:26and they don't stop when you retire.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29You can look back at your life and think of all the times
0:17:29 > 0:17:31when you've failed to be any of that
0:17:31 > 0:17:34and now here's an opportunity, as it were, to put it right,
0:17:34 > 0:17:37to adjust one's life in the light of experience
0:17:37 > 0:17:39and what the Holy Spirit says to us.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29If you spend you working life
0:20:29 > 0:20:32knowing exactly when you're going to retire,
0:20:32 > 0:20:34then you can prepare for the change of lifestyle,
0:20:34 > 0:20:36both practically and emotionally,
0:20:36 > 0:20:40but what if retirement forces itself upon you?
0:20:41 > 0:20:46Linvoy Primus was 35 when injury forced him to retire
0:20:46 > 0:20:49from the job he loved.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53Most of my life has been taken up with football.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56By the time I was 16, I was training every day,
0:20:56 > 0:20:58then playing on a Sunday as well.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02So by the time I was 20 years old, if anyone asked me who Linvoy was,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04I would have said a footballer,
0:21:04 > 0:21:08because that's what my life was all about until I retired at 35.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13I had to retire through a knee injury.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17I'd had about three years of persistent operations.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22And if you get to 35 as a footballer, that's quite a benchmark to get to.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26Retirement and football finishing, yeah, my dream was over.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30But I knew as one door was closing on my playing career
0:21:30 > 0:21:33that there was another door open for me,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36cos I really believe God had a plan for my life.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39And through that vehicle of football, we also recognise
0:21:39 > 0:21:43that there's other skills that people have. And business being one of them.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47Along with two colleagues, Linvoy decided to set up a charity.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50As Christians, we believe that there was a way
0:21:50 > 0:21:53that we could get the local church to engage with the community.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56So we decided that we'd start little football leagues,
0:21:56 > 0:21:58which led on to a reading programme
0:21:58 > 0:22:01and led on to a business enterprise challenge,
0:22:01 > 0:22:06allowing young people to start businesses, trade for four months
0:22:06 > 0:22:08and, at the end of that time, their work would get judged.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11In this group there's going to be one team that wins,
0:22:11 > 0:22:15but throughout this competition you will find new skills, new talents...
0:22:15 > 0:22:17'Over the last seven years we've been running this,
0:22:17 > 0:22:19'we've seen lives really change.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23'Those are the things for me that really warm my heart.'
0:22:23 > 0:22:26And I'm not saying that to be just cuddly
0:22:26 > 0:22:28or, you know, "That sounds really good,"
0:22:28 > 0:22:30but there's a reality to that.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33Scorer a winning goal or changing someone's life?
0:22:33 > 0:22:35Definitely changing someone's life.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41# Day by day
0:22:41 > 0:22:46# And with each passing moment
0:22:46 > 0:22:53# Strength I find to meet my trials here
0:22:53 > 0:23:01# Trusting in my father's wise bestowment
0:23:01 > 0:23:08# I've no cause for worry or for fear
0:23:08 > 0:23:16ALL: # He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
0:23:16 > 0:23:23# Gives unto each day what he deems best
0:23:23 > 0:23:31# Lovingly it's part of pain or pleasure
0:23:31 > 0:23:37# Mingling toil with peace and rest
0:23:37 > 0:23:43ALL: # Day by day Day by day
0:23:43 > 0:23:47# Day by day
0:23:50 > 0:23:57# Help me then in every tribulation
0:23:57 > 0:24:05# So to trust thy promises, O Lord
0:24:05 > 0:24:12# That I lose not faith's sweet consolation
0:24:12 > 0:24:19# Offered me within thy holy word
0:24:19 > 0:24:27# Help me, Lord, when toil and trial are meeting
0:24:27 > 0:24:34# Here to take as from a father's hand
0:24:34 > 0:24:39# A father's hand
0:24:39 > 0:24:46# One by one The days, the moments fleeting
0:24:50 > 0:24:58# Till at last with Christ I stay
0:24:58 > 0:25:01# Day by day
0:25:01 > 0:25:07# Day by day. #
0:25:11 > 0:25:13CHORAL MUSIC
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Hello everyone. Can I come in?
0:25:17 > 0:25:22'Of course, many people spend their retirement in retirement homes.'
0:25:22 > 0:25:26A lot of you have retired from jobs, haven't you?
0:25:26 > 0:25:29- ALL: Yes. - So what job did you do?
0:25:29 > 0:25:32- Well, we had a public house for 40 years.- Very hard work.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35Very busy, yes. Very enjoyable.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38Until I got to about 60, then you'd had enough.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41What was it like when you retired?
0:25:41 > 0:25:45Rather nice. Not to have to get up in the morning to go to work.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49- So did you have any reservations at all about retirement?- No.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52The companies I'd worked for sometimes used to ring me up
0:25:52 > 0:25:57and say, "Are you available?" And I'd say, "How much?"
0:25:57 > 0:25:59LAUGHTER
0:25:59 > 0:26:03I packed up work when I was... I think I was about 80-odd.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07And I ended up in here. Very nice.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09With all these ladies about me, what do you think?
0:26:09 > 0:26:12LAUGHTER
0:26:12 > 0:26:15- Dirty old man!- You! - LAUGHTER
0:26:15 > 0:26:17'Maybe it's because I'm a writer
0:26:17 > 0:26:21'that I'm inclined to look back over the years as a series of chapters,
0:26:21 > 0:26:25'where every ending is also a new beginning.'
0:26:25 > 0:26:28Retirement might mean the end of your working life,
0:26:28 > 0:26:33but how wonderful to have a chance at last to slow down a bit.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35Time for yourself.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38Time for the people and the things that you love
0:26:38 > 0:26:41and for God, who never stops loving you.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37Father, guide us as we enter each new chapter of our lives,
0:29:37 > 0:29:42comfort us as we stand before each new and unfamiliar horizon,
0:29:42 > 0:29:48show us how to live fully each day and be all we can be,
0:29:48 > 0:29:51give all we can give
0:29:51 > 0:29:54and love all we can love.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56Amen.
0:29:58 > 0:30:03Whether we're in the autumn or even the winter of our lives,
0:30:03 > 0:30:05our last hymn is full of reassurance
0:30:05 > 0:30:07that, whatever changes we're going through,
0:30:07 > 0:30:11God's love and faithfulness are always with us.
0:33:27 > 0:33:32Next week, Huw Edwards celebrates St David's Day in the Land of Song.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35He visits the beautiful city of Llandaff,
0:33:35 > 0:33:39and is joined by Wales and Lions rugby forward Toby Faletau,
0:33:39 > 0:33:43and the renowned mezzo soprano, Kate Woolveridge.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46Plus performances from Welsh brothers Richard and Adam
0:33:46 > 0:33:49and Llandaff Cathedral Choir.