Sheena, aspiring publisher and happy housesitter
- enjoying the ultimate in flexible working
It was a casual remark from a friend that made me quite sure I never wanted to ‘retire’. Expressing some nervousness about the looming reality of stopping work, she dismissed it with an “Och, you’ll just have to get on with your gardening and reading.” That did it. I definitely wasn’t ready to be sidelined so thoroughly, much as I enjoyed gardening and reading. It galvanised me into swift action to find meaningful, and hopefully lucrative projects, immediately I left my newspaper group for good, and I haven’t stopped since.
Seven years on – I retired at 65, having worked as a journalist since I was 18 – the list of ‘projects’ continues to grow. I freelanced for a while as a sub-editor on local papers in north London, picked up where I had left off with the Open University, studying literature, and am now, two or three years down the line, a graduate. I loved every minute of that – well, maybe not the essays! – and miss the structured reading so much that I am seriously looking at starting an MA course next February.
What I could never have foreseen, when I finally stopped working officially, is how much my life would open up when I gave up the 9 to 5 slog. London is a great place to live when you are retired, the Freedom Pass a gift from God, or Ken Livingstone, depending on your point of view. I’ve seen many of the major art -exhibitions, being lucky enough to have a friend with a membership of most of the major galleries, made many new friends and taken on two new careers.
EntrustUK came along just when the freelance work petered out (for some extraordinary reason, I think they thought I was too old!) and has proved tailor-made for someone of my interests. The company provides a unique service to employees of top companies and service providers by arranging house sitters to wait in on behalf of the client for deliveries or tradespeople. They are an Age Positive Employer Champion and are always looking for people that can work on a flexible ad hoc basis.
As a housesitter for EntrustUK I’m not only getting paid for my services but from the start I was able to study in complete peace, away from the constant ringing of the phone and mobile, and it’s also proving ideal for my latest career, as a would-be publisher.
So that there would be no risk of a moment’s spare time, two years ago I joined a creative writing class in West Hampstead, and opened the door to another world. Although I had always written, I finally felt able to write the stories which had been piling up in my head and have now joined forces with the tutor of the class to launch a small publishing company, aiming to publish the work of the many writers out there, of high quality, who have little or no chance of finding a readership.
The EntrustUK assignments enable me to plan and read manuscripts in complete quiet. That part of the work has been pure enjoyment. However, I would warn anyone contemplating applying for an Arts Council grant to allocate a great deal of time, and stock up on headache pills. We are about to submit our second attempt and if anything has given me grey hairs, that has!
For further information about housesitting with EntrustUK contact www.entrustuk.com/jobs
[story posted July 2007]