Dame Judi Dench gives her support to Glossop-based community group Extra Time

The group provides training and support to older people who want to contribute more to society.

Extra Time received a response and donation from Dame Judi Dench after seeing a quote from her in a newspaper and then writing to her PA. Mary Jessop of Extra Time told us "in response we received the attached note, which was followed up by a cash donation to help towards continuing the work we are doing."

Dame Judi Dench was also more than happy to let the group use her quote when she said ‘retired’ is the rudest word in the dictionary.

Ed Kelly, who was recently the longest-serving Mayor of the High Peak and now the Chair of Extra Time, says: “Five Glossop residents with valuable experience of local community and voluntary work deliver the training and support. Four of us are retired. We know what it is like to be old and understand the challenges of age-discrimination, the cost of living crisis, isolation and the feeling that you are no longer a valued contributing member of society. We are supporting older people to feel more positive about their skills and about how they can still contribute to our local community. We offer a unique free training course that runs half a day a week over a four week period. We also offer one-to-one mentoring and support."

The course offers the opportunity to meet similar people, regain confidence and update skills. Extra Time has already helped a whole range of people including a retired headteacher, a carer, a retired bank manager, an unemployed accountant and a caretaker.

All recent attendees have reported a significant increase in their confidence and some have already gone on to secure paid work, become volunteers or start training.