According to official statistics, there are a growing number of people who could be described as \u2018wellderly”.\u00a0 The term was first coined by Harriet Harmon who used it to describe fit and active over-60\u2019s who are making the most of their retirement.<\/p>\n
Many of these people are still in work and those that aren\u2019t, are contributing to society through volunteering or by looking after grandchildren. Others are taking on challenges they didn\u2019t have time for when they were working or raising children, like 67-year-old Janice Preece:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I retired,\u201d says Janice, \u201cI was determined that I wanted to do something useful with my time. I qualified as a first aider and I now work as a volunteer at local events such as half marathons, carnivals and festivals. It\u2019s given me the opportunity to go to events I wouldn\u2019t normally have considered at my age and I\u2019ve made some great friends along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few weeks ago a man called Nicolas Crace hit the headlines when he became the oldest living donor in the country.\u00a0 The volunteer driver for a local hospice was back riding his bike after three days.<\/p>\n
A number of older people have also achieved some incredible feats of fitness recently, proving that in some cases, age is nothing more than a number. In May, 73 year old Tamme Watanebe became the oldest women to\u00a0 reach the summit of Mount Everest while last year, Fauja Singh, from Ilford, became the oldest man to run a marathon at 100.<\/p>\n