I was for a good number of years director of a charitable trust whose purpose was to improve the quality of life for older people. The trust funded a range of significant projects for other organisations and university departments, in addition to initiating innovative programmes itself.

On becoming an ordained minister in the Church of England, I wanted to explore how the church was responding to the ageing population. My Fellowship took me to the USA and Canada, where I met with different faith groups and gerontologists with a similar interest. I was able to report back to the hierarchy of the Church of England on how others were responding, and especially on the clear links in the countries I visited between faith groups and their local institutes of gerontology.

My Fellow's Report was well received at various levels within the church and I was able to contribute to a number of new developments at local and national level.