AofA's Hot To Trot Talking Points
Every Friday
Join us every Friday to find out what’s being going on in Advantages of Age and our FB group where we discuss a lot.
This was an article in the Guardian on Older People and Circus skills. There is a company called Generation Circus in Hertfordshire that do the sessions. This is Rumman Talukder. ‘Rumman Talukder’s favourite circus trick is called the Mermaid. Every Sunday, the 60-year-old IT consultant drives from his home in Stanmore to a circus school in Ware to practise it. Hanging from a trapeze by one arm, with his back arched and his legs wrapped around the rope, he says it makes him feel “strong and graceful”.
“My wife thinks I’m mad but in the run-up to turning 60, I decided I wanted to challenge myself; to find things not normally associated with people my age,” he says.
Talukder is one of a small but increasing number of people discovering circus after the age of 50.’ Love this.
2. This is a story from Wales Online and this is 86 year old Ann Lush. She has raised over £100,000 for a children’s charity by opening up her garden and charging for it. ‘This lovely lady is Ann Lush. And she truly is lush.
For the past 30 years, she has been opening her garden to the public - and has since helped to raise over £100,000 for a children’s charity.
It all started in 1996, when Ann and her late husband Dennis opened their garden to neighbours and charged £1 a head. They raised over £500 in a weekend.
That first weekend was meant to be a one-off. But, three decades later, the Penarth Open Gardens event has become a fixture in their local area - with several residents now taking part.
Ann, who is now 86, said: “It was a huge success, and we just haven’t looked back. It’s such a beautiful legacy for Dennis. People come from everywhere now.”
Sadly, Ann was orphaned as a young child, and at the house where she grew up, she wasn’t allowed friends over to play. So, she makes it her mission to “never turn a child away”
She said: “I decided, when I was still young, that if I ever had a garden of my own I would never turn a child away. And if I could ever help a young person, I would.”
Ann and her fellow residents have now raised around £120,000 for The Children’s Society - a charity which her husband Dennis was a Honorary Vice President of until he sadly died in 2020.
But, Ann is carrying on his good work with her lovely gardening - all while helping children who have suffered trauma or crisises, much like she did as a young girl.
What a legend. The world needs more people like Ann Lush.’
Heard this story on BBC London about Angella Callam who left school with no qualifications and has just received her degree in sports therapy. ‘A north London grandmother who left school without a single GCSE has graduated with a degree in sports therapy at the age of 55.
Angella Callam, from Edmonton in Enfield, collected her BSc from London Metropolitan University at a ceremony at the Barbican Centre on Monday 20 July.
The mother of four enrolled on a foundation course four years ago and says she is the first of her family’s generation to go to university.
“I didn’t even have a GCSE. There’s been lots of hurdles since I first started on that course,” she said.
“We had a death in the family. During my exam period, we lost my son-in-law. I’ve been supporting my daughter and my grandchildren.
“There were lots of times when I felt like giving up. My partner helped me to persevere and keep going.”
Callam, who was born in Jamaica, said she had sometimes compared herself with younger classmates.
“Sometimes I’d get the usual anxieties and compare myself to other students because they were younger and my grades weren’t always where I wanted them to be,” she said.
She has worked as a fitness instructor for more than 20 years but had put off returning to education.
“I wanted to know more about the science behind sports,” she said.
“Graduating is something I’ve dreamt about for a long time. And now here I am.
“It was such an incredible feeling stepping on to that stage and accepting my degree. It was thrilling, I was like yes, it’s finally happening.”
She hopes to work in rehabilitation and is applying for jobs in the NHS.
Two of her daughters, a grandson and her partner Leon Walker, 64, watched her collect the award.
“I’ve been supporting her from the very beginning and there’s been lots of ups and downs. I’m proud of her for everything she has achieved,” Walker said.’
4. Sad to hear that Bill Oddie died at 85. Chris Packham gave a great tribute. ‘A renegade polymath with binoculars and a beard, Bill was invariably funny and occasionally furious. He loved birds and loathed those who harmed them. He was delightfully unpredictable, sparky, smart and at times a bit spiky. Critically he really knew his stuff, and his passion was true – he didn’t just pick up his binoculars on telly, he went birding whenever he could. So he was genuine and that’s why we loved him, he never needed a script, and took scant interest in any he was given. He didn’t like rules and often neglected to play by them. This may have frustrated the serious and the worthy but it always amused his audience - he was an utter joy to be with. I recall finding a Black Woodpecker in a damp Dutch park with him once, he gazed at it intently, sighed, put down his bins, turned to me and just smiled. A massive grin. No words, just a beautiful childlike bliss. That says all you need to know about Bill Oddie.
Sadly we’ve not only lost a goodie, we’ve lost one of the besties.’
Sounds such a good idea. Based in Barnsley, this group brings women together to walk and share their grief. ‘The founder of a walking group for grieving women says the combination of fresh air and camaraderie has helped her through some of her “darkest days”.
Amy Bassinder, from Barnsley, said walking had been an “outlet” for her after her dad died with prostate cancer in 2025, and she wanted to help others dealing with their grief.
She said: “I needed to find other people that feel like I do ... I thought there must be other people that feel like me and are burying their feelings.”
She set up Walking Through Grief to be a space for people to have “honest conversations, talking about these people that you love and you’d lost”.
“I’ve learnt that it’s not talked about enough, people don’t want to talk about grief,” she said.
“You have a funeral and it’s as if, ‘right you move on now’... it just didn’t work like that.”
Bassinder said losing her dad had left a “massive void” in her life.
“My dad was my best friend, he was the one person I could go to with all my problems,” she said.
“When people let me speak about him and I can be open like I can with this group, I do cry, and it’s good to cry.”
Image source,Amy Bassinder Bassinder said her dad was a keen walker and kept hiking up mountains while going through chemotherapy
Lesley Logan said she felt “safe and comfortable” joining the group after she lost her husband.
“This is an area we came to a lot, and I probably wouldn’t want to come on my own,” she said.
“In this group... you can express exactly what your grief looks and feels like. There’s an underlying understanding of what grief brings to you.
“And it’s not all doom and gloom, we like exploring and sharing things... [about] just life in general.”’
6. And finally a poem called Ashes by Michael Longley.
‘Here is his wonderful poem, ‘Ashes’ from Poetry Ireland Review Issue 133, edited by Colette Bryce, which you can find on our website.’
