A participant’s perspective - Gerry
Are you interested in joining one of our projects but not sure what to expect or whether it’s for you? One of our participants, Gerry, has written a blog post to help you know what to expect. Gerry took part in devising projects for retired Emergency Responders in 2022 and ‘23.
I retired from the Police in 2006 aged 48 having completed 30 years service plus 1 as a cadet. Prior to that, having left school at 16, I was in the merchant navy and had been fortunate to all but circumnavigate the globe aboard the MV Sig Ragne.
As many who retired young from the service did; I took up further employment and found myself involved in the design, deployment, training and product management of mobile technology which would both streamline processes and benefit the police Service in the U.K. and beyond. I took the decision to retire fully in 2019 aged 61. My retirement goal was for my wife and I to split our time between the coastal town of Largs and a village just outside Paphos, Cyprus.
In January 2022 whilst in Cyprus, I received an email from Retired Police Officers Association Scotland inviting members to take part in a 3 week production of a play centred around retirement from the police. It was taking place in the time I would be back in Largs and sounded very interesting. I’d been in school plays at secondary school in the early 70’s but nothing since.
I called Hannah from Stand Easy and had a very interesting conversation. She told me the aims and objectives of the project, the locations and dates. I wasn’t sure it was really for me but Hannah sold it to me as something that would be interesting, may test my boundaries and would above all be fun. I duly committed to joining Hannah and whoever in Dundee!
Gerry (far left) and the other participants during the 2023 project
In the week before I was due to travel to Dundee I developed a chest infection, this followed on from a nasty bout of COVID 5 weeks earlier. I called Hannah and explained that this was a problem, Hannah however assured me that I’d still be welcomed after the project started if I felt well enough to do so.
We had a further conversation on Tuesday after which I agreed to join the group at the close of play on Wednesday. On arrival I sat in the hall watching with a mixture of ‘what on earth is this’ and ‘it looks like madness!’ I was introduced to the group and went for dinner. I didn’t know anyone from my time in the police but they seemed a friendly bunch and not at all mad!
Thursday and Friday were fun and I found myself enjoying the games and making suggestions of what could be performed. I left on Friday looking forward to Monday.
The project was one of the most enjoyable times of my life. Under Hannah and Josef’s direction, the group (who bonded incredibly well) put together a short piece called ‘Here We Go’ about retirement which had reflection, humour, sadness and above all a sense of camaraderie and belonging. I looked forward to each day with the group.
There was no question of whether I wanted to take part again the following year. 2023 saw the group get back together to create another piece, this one was called ‘Where Now’. I was really looking forward to meeting up with everyone again and it didn’t disappoint, in fact it was even better than the previous year. I was mystifyingly sad when this year’s project ended, such was the fun we’d had over the 3 weeks.
It’s probably not for everyone, let’s face it we took ourselves incredibly seriously and we are old! However if you let yourself become part of the group and cast off your inhibitions you might find that life can be fun whilst getting some points across.
Each play gave me a new found purpose, it’s like having the best job in the world, it provides structure, which being retired I’d missed. I’ve always been able to poke fun at myself and have tried not to take life too seriously when it wasn’t required. These projects though have let my genie out of the bottle and I hope it’s not going back in.
Aged 64 I found that the project provided me with a new focus, I learned more about myself and found in the group people who I will stay friends with forever.
I am looking forward to 2024.
Gerry McDonald
If you are interested in taking part in our upcoming devising project for Veterans please get in touch with us for more information.
