Sir, – As a retiree I have been following your “Life after Work” series with not a little interest (Weekend Review February 11th and continuing), mainly, I suspect, to see if there is anything I could glean from your excellent writers and contributors.
As an initial observation, what will be unique at the end of February is the sheer scale of people leaving the public service, most of whom represent multi-skills and professions across the board and these will not go away or disappear on retirement. Many of your contributors posed the obvious question, what next?
I went through this process, but I was not guided by a retirement date as, in the words of Harold Macmillian “events, dear boy, events” occurred. My “event” was my first diagnosis of cancer while I was still working and long before retirement appeared on the radar.
After recovery from lengthy treatment I accidentally got involved in a unique start-up Cancer Care Centre near Mullingar in 2002, known still by its acronym LARCC. I realised then that I had something of my own professional skills to offer and, like so many cancer patients, this was my way of saying thanks and doing something to help others survive the trauma of cancer.
In my mind, this involvement was to be for a short time, until I decided what to really do with my life – pre- and post-retirement, that is! But LARCC caught and kept my attention from 2002 to this day, as it is still the only centre in Ireland offering residential support to recovering cancer patients, nowadays in the beautiful surrounds of Multyfarnham Abbey.
However, like any charity, new blood and new ideas for fundraising are needed. We do not have the finances for a marketing budget; we do not have a “well known personality” fronting our public appeals, but we do have a dedicated and committed staff ensuring the ideals of the founder are maintained and developed.
So, to upcoming retirees, I am making an appeal to those of you who will have the time, skills or ideas to apply to a most worthy cause. With the pressure of work off, now is the time to open up to new possibilities and horizons and one that I can highly recommend is throwing your hat into the ring with LARCC. The pay is poor but the rewards are great. Retirement can be fun! – Yours, etc,