for them and their lives into our hands and we then become their attorneys and run their lives for them, and I would say that being paid to effectively be somebody’s eldest daughter and to have the trust that you get from them is probably the best bit. My view in life is that in your job you should do your best to make a difference and if you can put back some service into life then you get an awful lot back. I think I’m very lucky. I’ve got lovely clients. The oldies are all beginning to die now; the cabinet drawers of general affairs are getting a bit empty. The next generation did marry, did have children, and it’s different again but I’ve been very lucky because I’ve got some lovely memories of people who themselves were inspiring. Quite often it’s not until you’re at a client’s funeral - and the probate department tend to be professional funeral goers - that you find out so much about them. One of my client’s we discovered had been very, very active in the Dutch resistance throughout the War, another one was a Czechoslovakian Jew, she had been saved from one of the transport trains because the young German guard, who was actually loading people up, had known her family and he’d simply said to her: “But your name’s not on my list.” And that was how she was saved, and her other friends helped get her out - it’s things like that, in this particular country we don’t have to face anything so challenging. I do quite a bit of charity work and it is linked to the firm. I was involved with Eastbourne Seniors, Age Concern Eastbourne, Queen Alexandra Cottage Homes, and I’m a governor at Sussex Downs College as well. We’ve moved on a bit so with Eastbourne Seniors - it was for people who lived in or had some relationship with Eastbourne over the years and it provided sheltered housing. There’s a care wing and a nursing wing, and it’s been virtually completely rebuilt and there’s bungalows and there’s always been big projects going on and it’s become very successful so that a) it gets more legacies than it used to; and b) there are very rarely any vacancies, which is good, whereas at one point nobody knew it was there because it was hidden, it just had a very, very low profile. So that’s changed a lot. Age Concern Eastbourne is an interesting one because Age UK and Age Concern decided to merge into one charity, Age Concern Eastbourne decided to stay independent because it has a very strong local profile and it’s still thriving quite well. I came off that Christmas last year, because I suddenly
realised I’d been sitting at table for 15 years which is too long. We still do things for them but I just go to their monthly meetings, which is in some respects a relief because as I looked round the table more and more of them had died In the old days we would struggle for funds and now it’s got four or five shops and a good income, more activities than you could imagine There’s always been a charitable element to everything we do really. I enjoy choral singing and we are the only amateur choir, called Counterpoint, to be invited to sing at Glyndebourne and for three years we gave a Christmas concert to raise money for Demelza, the children’s hospice. Otherwise I read and I like poetry. But work has grown a bit over the years, it’s just all the time, and the commitment to Sussex Downs - being a governor is actually quite…well, demanding is too strong a word, it’s time consuming. There is a lot reading, you have to know what’s going on if you can and try and keep on top of things. So quite often during the week I’ll get an email saying, “There’s another thing in the governance section to read.” And so time disappears…. In terms of travelling, I am appallingly ignorant of anywhere in Europe. I’ve been to Paris on a weekend coach trip. Most of my travel has been slightly more exotic. I still feel most comfortable in South East Asia. I like Malaysia, Sarawak was fascinating I always wanted to go to India and eventually did go and I went to Rajasthan, they call it the Golden Triangle, and I have to say that was one of the most moving holidays I have ever had. It was quite interesting, on Desert Island