How’s this for putting your fet up?

Q: What exactly do you do?

A: My friends say I’m like Jimmy Saville in Jim’ll Fix It, but for older people. On the surface that’s a good description – I work with Touchstone Housing Association’s retirement home residents trying to fix things up that they’ve always dreamed of doing.

But there’s more to it than that: I also want to help them be more independent longer term.

Q: How did you get the job?

A: I started at Touchstone as a maintenance officer when I was 16 – I’m now 37. Over the years I’d done lots of different maintenance roles and I’ve always had a good rapport with our residents. Over the past 10 years I’ve worked on retirement housing so I’ve met most of the older ones.

Last year Touchstone approached me about running the Magic Moments scheme, which was devised to help people dothings they’ve always wanted to do.

They realised that our older residents were becoming more dependent because their average age was increasing. Rather than accepting dependency as an unavoidable consequence of ageing, they decided to do something about it. Recognising that I got on well with the residents, they asked me to run the scheme. I started full-time last April.

Q: What sort of events you have organised?

A: We’ve done about 15 events so far, some for groups and some for individuals (see box overleaf). For example, one 82-year-old lady had trained as a ballerina as a young girl and since then had always wanted to go to the ballet but hadn’t got round to it – I don’t think she’d had the confidence to go on her own. I arranged a trip to see The Nutcracker at Birmingham Hippodrome for her and eight other residents, with dinner afterwards.

Now I think she’d have the confidence to say to one of her friends: “I’m going to the ballet soon, do you want to come with me?”

We’ve done big trips to the Last Night of the Proms and the races with our partner the Extra Care Trust – a charity that organises activities for older people – as well as simpler things like fishing or bowling.

And I’ve just taken an 82-year-old lady, Joyce Lea, abseiling (pictured left). It went really well – she found the climbing up a bit harder than the coming down but I reckon your photographer was more scared than her when he went up. She loved it. This year, I’m taking residents on a hot-air balloon flight and a trip on the QE2 as well.

Q: How does the scheme benefit residents?

A: It provides social interaction, increases their independence and improves their health. Because we have expertise in looking after older people, tenants feel secure trying new experiences. Often we do things that give them a buzz, and that’s all right in a secure environment. Getting them motivated is sometimes the hardest thing. With a little support, people gain confidence and realise it’s not difficult to get up three steps to a helicopter.

Once they’ve been on one trip, I hope they won’t need me to organise the next.

It’s about inspiring people to know it’s not an achievement to get out of bed in the morning and get dressed, it’s an achievement to go abseiling or on a hot-air balloon flight.

Q: How do you fund the events?

It’s not an achievement to get out of bed in the morning. It’s an achievement to go abseiling

A: Our residents pay for the trips themselves. Because we have 3000 customers, the chances are if one wants to go, more will and we can get them a bulk discount. Often, events aren’t expensive anyway, they just need support and encouragement to do it.

Q: How do you get ideas for events?

A: We ask residents what they want to do and I look into it. More than 400 people have taken part so far, which is more than we expected – I think because we take time to discuss their concerns with them first.

I also research what events are going on in different areas. I met a ballroom dancing teacher recently and I’d like to set up ballroom dancing classes for our 80 retirement schemes and get a league going. Touch deprivation is another problem for elderly people, and dancing combats this.

Q: What if their requests are impossible?

A: Not all their requests are practical or affordable. One guy wanted to fly in a Spitfire – there are only two dual-seaters in the country, and they wanted to charge £14,000.

I went back and said that unfortunately it was not financially feasible. However, he said he’d always wanted to go in a balloon as well, so that’s what I’m organising.

Q: Aren’t there lots of risks?

A: I do a risk assessment for every event.

If you’ve got 15 people in a balloon and it hits the ground at 15 knots, it could be a problem if lots of people have osteoporosis. I make sure someone knows basic first aid and consider suitable transport; you can’t have residents walking across an airfield. I ask scheme managers about whether people are up to an event, but most people know their own limits anyway. However, things like helicopter flights don’t require any more mobility than getting in a car and going to the shops, which tenants do all the time.

Q: How does it compare with being a maintenance officer?

A: With this, I get to see a lot more smiles. That’s great – you don’t always see older people smiling, especially if you’re there to repair something. But when they smile they’re ageless. The residents always recognise me now and ask how I am when I walk into a scheme. They’re almost like family members. It’s a strange job but very fulfilling.

Q: Are there any downsides?

A: It can be emotionally draining. You get such a high seeing people enjoying themselves and then have to come back down to earth afterwards. There’s an element of flatness when you think “that was great, I wish we could do it again”. But it’s very fulfilling helping realise people’s dreams.

I’ve never slept so well as I do now.