Inspired Villages welcomes Gloria Hunniford OBE & Dame Helena Morrissey DBE to Durrants Village for 101 Ways to Enjoy Getting Older event on 5 June, with Legal & General

On Wednesday 5 June, Durrants Village, the retirement village in Faygate, West Sussex, hosted a special event with veteran broadcaster Gloria Hunniford OBE. 101 Ways to Enjoy Getting Older was an inspiring, interactive discussion panel event exploring the many ways to embrace the ageing process, chaired by Gloria Hunniford, who shared her experiences.

The free event was held jointly with Legal & General, which financially backs Inspired Villages, the developer and operator behind Durrants Village. Retirement experts from Legal & General held talks and gave information about how to save for and make the most of your retirement, including Dame Helena Morrissey DBE, head of Legal & General’s Personal Investing team. The event took place in the village’s clubhouse from 10am–3pm on 5 June and was split into a morning and afternoon session.

The event was the latest instalment of Inspired’s 101 Ways to Enjoy Getting Older campaign, a national campaign which identifies top tips for a happy retirement. The campaign has comprised two panel events with Gloria at other Inspired villages in the last year and over 500 ‘ways’ have been collected from over 55s since the campaign began, sharing their tips and aspirations for growing older happily. Attendees on 5 June were asked to share their ‘ways’, from which Gloria picked examples to lead the discussion. The campaign will culminate in a national panel event chaired by Gloria at the Southbank Centre in London on 21 November 2019. Alongside Gloria, celebrity ambassadors for the campaign include TV’s Julia Bradbury and Dr Dawn Harper.

On the panel with Gloria on 5 June was Inspired’s Sales and Marketing Director James Cobb, who shared his expertise on making the most of retirement, and Rebecca Kennelly, Director of Volunteering at the Royal Voluntary Service, who delivered a presentation and discussed the benefits of volunteering in retirement. The talks from Legal & General’s retirement experts covered how to see your saving aspirations come to life, how to supplement your pension pot and the product options available at retirement. Dame Helena Morrissey DBE and Duncan Weldon, a Strategist in Legal & General’s Investment Management team and former editor for the BBC’s Newsnight, gave an interactive talk sharing insights into investing in the current climate of Brexit uncertainty.

Attendees had the chance to meet Gloria and get involved in the panel discussion, seek information from Legal & General representatives and learn about volunteering opportunities with the Royal Voluntary Service and their recruitment campaign, ‘Step Forward’.

James Cobb, Group Sales and Marketing Director at Inspired Villages, commented:  “We were delighted to welcome Gloria to Durrants Village for the latest instalment of our 101 campaign, which is travelling the country gathering momentum and wisdom on how we should all embrace later life together. Gloria is fantastically inspiring and we discussed a range of ‘ways’ to enjoy getting older and fears of later life, which included Gloria’s own experiences and a range of topics taken from the audience such as friendship, money, love, hobbies, family and health.

“We this time held our 101 event with our partners Legal & General to provide all-round guidance to help you make the most of your retirement and hard-earned savings – helping you to invest in what is best for your future.”

Gloria Hunniford OBE commented: “It’s been fantastic to be at Durrants Village for another ‘101’ event with Inspired; the campaign is a joyous one and really highlights how we can embrace and celebrate the process of growing older. It is always interesting to hear other peoples’ wisdom, tips and experiences of getting older and talk about how we can all look to make the lives of older people around us better. Retirement is a time to enjoy a new lease of life and all the freedom and new experiences this can bring.”

Dame Helena Morrissey DBE, head of Legal & General’s Personal Investing team, commented: “Today’s event at Durrants is an example of how we can take part in the conversations that are important to our customers (and often their families too) as they consider options for later living. We hope to offer ideas that can help those entering or in retirement to enjoy the next phase of their lives.

“Reaching our goals, whatever our age or circumstances, requires us to see financial wellbeing as part of general wellbeing and to create a plan that works for us. Together with Inspired Villages in Faygate, Legal & General Personal Investing is committed to providing practical insights into investing for the future and showing our customers that there really are 101 ways to enjoy getting older”.

Gloria Hunniford is one of Britain’s best known and loved TV and radio personalities. She was the first woman to host her own radio show on BBC Radio 2 and among the first women to have her own television chat show, ITV’s Sunday, Sunday in the 1980s. She has also presented Gloria Live, Wogan, Holiday, Songs of Praise, That's Showbusiness, Kilroy, Through The Keyhole and more recently the consumer programme Rip-Off Britain. She also regularly appears on This Morning, The One Show and Loose Women as a guest presenter. Gloria has received many prestigious awards during her 40-year career including TV and Radio Personality of the Year. She received an OBE in 2017 for her services to cancer charities.

Durrants Village is set amongst 30 acres of idyllic parkland in the hamlet of Faygate and close to the market town of Horsham. The village offers a total of 172 retirement properties, comprising a mixture of two bedroom apartments and two and three bedroom cottages. The homes at Durrants Village centre around an on-site clubhouse with a range of country club-style facilities including a restaurant, bar, lounge, swimming pool, gym, library and meeting rooms. Within the landscaped grounds there is also a croquet lawn, a lake complete with duck houses and a lake house for residents to enjoy. Prices for homes at Durrants Village start from £325,000.

Attendees to the The 101 Ways to Enjoy Getting Older event enjoyed complimentary refreshmetns and the opportunity to receive a tour of the village. For further information about Inspired’s 101 Ways to Enjoy Getting Older campaign, please click here.

For more information about the homes available at Durrants Village or about future events at Durrants Village, contact the sales team on 01293 851 935, email [email protected] or click here.