I made contact asking whether they wanted retired ATCO’s and the answer was yes, so I joined. I should say that you need to be a member of GATCO or rejoin it to be a part of the programme. Also, currently it is only open to ATCO’s/Pilots. It may be extended to FISO’s but that is still to be considered.

Basically, I facilitate meetings via Google Teams as many times as I like, per month. Normally I offer 2 dates per month, which are convenient for me any time day or night (remember we are covering the world, so if you are an insomniac and want to be around at 0300, there will be someone to speak to!). Each slot lasts for about an hour.

I am then matched up with Participants from anywhere in the world, and on the appointed day and time, we meet up and chat about anything. It may be aviation related, or holiday, cooking, sport or anything, the list is endless. We do not get into politics or other sensitive issues. Also, this is not a training course. We are not there to teach. It is just offering the opportunity for folk for whom English is not the mother tongue to have the chance to think and speak in English away from the ‘standard phraseology’.

On top is a screenshot of a recent event I hosted.

The picture shows at the top left a Captain who flies B767 aircraft for ANA and top right a JAL training Captain on the B777/787 (although he has just left JAL and is now a B747 training Captain for Nippon Cargo). The lady is a Tower Controller at one of the Japanese airports and then there is me.

We talked not only about aviation, but retirement ages, recruitment issues for both pilots and controllers, holidays and our favourite places in the world.

The SEP allows me to keep in touch with current Controllers as well as Pilots from around the world, and they often love to hear stories from our operational days and the types of aircraft we controlled such as B707 and Concordes.

So if you would like to find out more, feel free to drop me an email at: epsilon4.jh@googlemail.com

I chose to become a volunteer driver for FareShare in Nov 2018 when I went part time to dip my toe into final (early) retirement. Although my role in NATS was varied it was mostly working indoors so having a different office every day is great. Delivering to the charities is one of the most rewarding parts of the role. Not only can you see how the excess food is used efficiently and not going to waste, it’s a time I can have a chat with a wide range of people, helping in numerous ways to support others. It’s great to talk to inspiring individuals working for the good of their neighbours and an opportunity to learn about the different communities in the region. Since retiring the volunteering gives us a routine and structure although it doesn’t get in my way when I want to go on holiday or follow Man City abroad as it’s voluntary work, just need to give plenty of notice so routes can be covered. 

FareShare Greater Manchester supplied food either by delivery or collection to more than 300 charities and community organisations last year including to food banks, schools and community kitchens.

The Charity has 15 depots nationwide so if you’re interested in volunteering or just want to find out more then check out https://fareshare.org.uk  As well as drivers and drivers mates, Fareshare need admin and volunteers to pick and pack the food. 

Thanks for reading. 

Ged Donnelly

Ex NATS Swanwick, Manchester, Heathrow

As restrictions eased, having enquired pre pandemic, I was accepted into a group of volunteers, whose role was to assist the Canal and River Trust (CRT) in looking after my nearby waterway, The Macclesfield Canal.

The group are all retirees and members of the Macclesfield Canal Society and this provided an opportunity for them to give something back to the structure they’ve been dedicated to for years.

As a result, the ‘Roving Group’ had been formed and unusually, as most canal volunteer groups only cover their own patch, the group covers all 26 miles of the Macclesfield Canal, from Marple Locks in the north, to the junction with the Trent and Mersey canal at Kidsgrove, in the south.

Tasks that the Roving Group cover range from preparing and laying towpaths, painting infrastructure ie bridges and lock gates, to controlling vegetation in order to provide safe navigation for boaters. In doing this, I feel that my safety role has continued somewhat, post ATC.

To be able to look after the whole canal, the CRT kindly allow the group the use of two working boats, in order to transport materials and equipment to required locations.

As time with the group progressed, I became interested in being able to drive these boats. One of my fellow retired volunteers had been a BA 747 Captain back in the day and we’d spent many occasions talking ‘aviation’ whilst he navigated the canal.

Just as in my ATC days, following a period of training and subsequent checkout from an

 independent assessor, I qualified as a helmsperson (just as nerve wracking but great once you’re signed off).

Having checked out as a ‘helm’, I now not only drive the boats for the volunteer group but can be called upon by the CRT to work alongside full time operatives if the task requires the use of a workboat.

During my time on ‘The Helm’, I’ve had to press the equivalent of the red ‘CRASH’ alarm a couple of times when one of the team (same one on both occasions!), entered the canal involuntarily. Fair to say that previous experience helped action the required response, to ensure that they were assisted out of the canal in a timely, if not wet fashion.

To say I thoroughly enjoy my time as a volunteer on behaf of the CRT would be an understatement.

No matter whether I’m soaking wet and covered in mud on a freezing cold winter’s day or being ripped to shreds by blackthorn on a blisteringly hot summer’s day,  I always return home with a buzz and sense of satisfaction.

My days on the canal enable me to achieve the ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’ regularly, the criteria of which are often alluded to here in Contrail.

When asked about retirement and how good it is to be involved in a voluntary activity such as this, I will often show a ‘selfie’ comparison between my final day as I walked away from work and several years later, ready to pounce with a set of loppers on the canal. I’ll let you, the reader, decide if it has helped.

Having a sense of purpose and keeping oneself healthy, is paramount for an enjoyable retirement. There are many other organisations and local groups that desperately need help and I would recommend searching them out.

Should assisting the Canal and River Trust be of interest, information about how to become a volunteer can be found at

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/volunteerAt the beginning of this article, I mentioned that I’ve never been busier as a retiree. As many of my friends and colleagues have known for years, the only other job I ever wanted to do other than being an Air Traffic Controller, was to be a firefighter.

Recently, I’ve been accepted as a Community Volunteer for Greater Manchester Fire Service, which gives me an opportunity to give something to a service I’ve admired since being a young boy, chasing after a passing fire engine with it’s blue lights flashing and siren wailing.

As I’m in the early stages of this role, I feel a second instalment will be forthcoming once I can describe what it’s like to play the role of a ‘Chemical Incident’ casualty or even the fire service mascot on a hot day.

TBC

Before I started, the course leader made time to meet and talk me through how the course worked. This was really valuable as the idea of doing a Masters had gone from being a bright idea to a scary prospect.

As the course progressed the tutors commented on the weekly tasks and periodic essays which helped all of us in the International History cohort get the most out of the course material. One of the great advantages of the Distance Learning concept is the way it brings together students from diverse backgrounds. As many of us had studied history from a Western, Eurocentric perspective – it offered us a fresh and alternative lens through which to study events and people.

So why would you consider further education in retirement?

During my 12 years with the Coal Board then 28 years with NATS, I did a range of training courses – some mandatory like management development and some voluntary where I wanted to add to my skillset. Yet all these courses at work were part of career progression whereas in doing the history degree I would be studying a subject for its own sake.

So who should consider this option? – well maybe it’s someone who has done an initial degree but wonders if they can now challenge themselves to do a Masters. Or perhaps you wished you’d chosen a different subject for a first degree. Alternatively, perhaps you didn’t get the chance to do a degree but would like to use your work and life experience to try your hand at a degree now.

In any event what people like this are looking for is a way of keeping their brain active – keeping the cogs whirring once they stop working - and for once studying something for its own sake rather than as something that is work related.