BBCIt’s not often that retirement village residents get to star in their own film – but then not all of them find themselves living with a former journalist.
But now, the residents of Elmwood Retirement village in Stafford, are gearing up for a red carpet premiere of their own, featuring a film all about their lives.
Former reporter Peter Underwood has been behind the Years of Life, and says it is an important and necessary way to capture peoples’ lives.
“[It’s important] to have something there for the families, as well as for the wider public, as well as the people we live with here,” he said.
Residents are getting their glad-rags on to enjoy the premiere later at their village, and the documentary and residents’ stories will also be kept by the Staffordshire Records Office for future generations to see.
Mr Underwood said the opportunity to digitally archive residents’ lives and memories had also enabled him to learn to use new technology.
“It’s an ongoing process. It’s been interesting, very difficult to compress a whole life into half an hour,” he explained.
“Talking about yourself is never easy, but if you can help other people do that and the people they’re living with to help understand them better, I think that is a good thing.”
“The community here would better benefit from learning about the other members who live here,” he said.
Among those featured is Steven Roden, who became a member of the Hells Angels motorcycle club in the 1990s. He said the film made him “evaluate certain times in my life”.
He joked that he had “no pictures of when I was in the Hells Angels, which is probably a good thing.”
Not long afterwards though, “I called it a day”, he said.
“I came out, went back to church. Found a lovely lady and we got married,” he added.