I was dead pleased to be asked to go on Woman's Hour just before Christmas, but I wasn't expecting to love it! I did though. Jane Garvey's a great interviewer, obviously, and the listeners' e-mails and calls were incredibly varied and interesting. Some were loving retirement, others hating it.
I was really pleased to be asked to stay on for the Woman's Hour podcast, and bowled over when my interview was chosen to be part of Weekend Woman's Hour the following Saturday. Thank you!

Last autumn Action for Elders asked me to speak at a reception they held at the House of Commons, hosted by Tonia Antoniazzi MP. Although it's a new charity they've already made great strides in communities across the country, working with GPs to give people a new lease of life through their Balanced Lives programme.

I'm a big fan of Jo Good's BBC Radio London show so I was thrilled when she invited me on to talk about Not Fade Away. Even more thrilled when she played the Stones version of Not Fade Away to introduce the interview.
Jo hates the idea of retirement and so I thought she would hate the book too.
But she really got what I'm trying to do - write about what retirement really is like for people now. So she's the perfect audience.

To listen click here

My new book is named after my favourite Rolling Stones song, Not Fade Away.
It's a guide for the fiercely independent generation who have no intention of fading away when they retire.
It's about changing, not ageing, navigating the transition and harvesting the fruits of a lifetime's experience.
It was published by the new Bloomsbury imprint, Green Tree, on 20 September 2018.
You can pre-order it from Amazon now!

http://amzn.to/2wJvbpB

Last month I was interviewed by Fiona Phillips for a new series of BBC One's 'Holding Back the Years', to be broadcast in mid-October. Filming took place at Tavistock Relationships, which offers a helpful new counselling programme for couples approaching retirement. It's totally innovative and very different from conventional couples therapy: there are just four sessions. The idea is that couples don't go because they're having problems, but because they're aware that retirement can put pressure on relationships and they want to be prepared for it. It's perfect for partners who want to make the most of the next stage of their lives together and see their relationship continue to develop. Dr Sabah Khan of the Tavistock believes the relationship itself can be a source of reliability and support in retirement, and I'm sure that's true for many couples.

Last summer I was asked to speak at the Preventing Loneliness in Later Life conference at Tavistock Relationships in central London.
My starting point was loneliness within relationships, as well as the many different experiences of loneliness I came across when researching my book on retirement. And the inspiring solutions people came up themselves, which helped them break the cycle and move forward.
It was a terrifying privilege to speak at such a prestigious event: Tavistock Relationships has an international reputation for its counselling services and research. Luckily I was on before Janet Morrison, CEO of Independent Age (left in the photo), because she is a seriously hard act to follow. She had many thought-provoking insights into loneliness - which is at last being recognised as one of the biggest problems we face.