We were in a fortunate position to be able to finish full-time work earlier than a lot of people.

We saw it less as retirement but more as an opportunity to do something different as we entered a new phase of our lives. Obviously it is great to have more time to do the things that we like to do but previously didn’t have as much time, going out for the day during the week, more time for holidays etc. but we also felt that we wanted to have structure and purpose whilst doing something worthwhile and hopefully benefitting our community.

Wendy had worked as an Infant school teacher and was a Special Educational Needs teacher for the last 13 years of her career. She has used this experience to volunteer for a charity that provides support to families requiring assistance in trying to get the best outcome for their children.

Wendy finished work first and had established a regular routine before I finished work 3 years later. This helped me a lot as I was able to fit around that. We try and have one day in the week that we go out and do things together as well as the weekends and fit other things around that.

I had been involved with the staff charity fund at work and had spoken with a lot of local charities over the years to understand what they did and specifically how we could help them financially. There is a charity in Chelmsford that runs a café and support centre helping homeless and vulnerable people which I was particularly impressed with. I now volunteer in the café as well as managing the food stores, helping with grant bids and funding applications, talking at events to explain what the charity does and the role of volunteers etc. Wendy also volunteers in the charity shop run by the same charity to help raise funds for the café.

Having a purpose post-work to replace the feeling of working as a team and the sense of achievement when in employment has been important. It feels that we have a reasonable balance at the moment between achieving our own objectives whilst at the same time giving something back.