Are you (or do you know) a pensioner willing to take part in a BBC documentary celebrating the 'ups' and highlighting the 'downs' of being a pensioner. For an opportunity to take part act before Monday 20 February.
Further information about the documentary is below.
My name is Jessica Carey-Bates and I work for the BBC. I am making a documentary about what it´s like to be a pensioner involving a number of high profiled pensioners. It´s called, ´When I´m 65.´ I understand that there is another documentary being made by an independent company called True Vision about Fuel Poverty in the north west. Please be rest assured that this is very different and I am hoping that people in Liverpool might be good enough to help us both out. Please read on to find out more about this BBCOne documentary series that seeks to highlight and celebrate the experiences of pensioners.
In this series four well-known personalities, all themselves of pensionable age, will be spending time with a number of pensioners to try and understand more about what it means to be an older person in the UK. The aim of this is to draw an audience to the issues that some pensioners experience, but also to highlight ways in which pensioners can be aided/helped in certain situations and what services there are out there that may be able to help pensioners especially in terms of finances.
I am currently researching the issue of pensioners struggling to make ends meet on their pensions, and as a result of rising fuel bills and cost of food are making difficult decisions around heating and/eating. I am looking to speak to pensioners who could be finding it hard to heat their homes adequately i.e. in fuel poverty or in fuel debt; finding it difficult to pay bills generally; maybe there are debt issues as they cannot afford to maintain their home or live on the income that the government says that they should be able to live on; having to make a tough choice to ‘heat or eat’; the house might be in a poor condition and it´s not possible to heat it adequately.
If you know someone who is experiencing any of the above, and fits into any of the below criteria I would love to speak to them:
- Over 65 years old (male)
- Over 60 years old (female)
- Single male or female or a couple living in independent accommodation that they either own or privately rent.
- On low income and living close to the breadline of £137 per week for a single person, or couple rate of around 202 pounds. This can be state pension and pension credit
- Bigger incomes can be considered but there does need to be another extenuating factor which would mean that people are struggling in their day to day lives.
Of course those who come forward will be under no pressure to talk about anything they would rather not discuss and at this stage all conversations remain confidential. There is no obligation to take part in filming once they have spoken to me. I understand that this is a sensitive and personal issue. Please rest assured that all calls and information is treated confidentially and with respect.
The objective of the research is to find out what people are experiencing with an ultimate aim of finding someone who might wish to take part in the programme. Ultimately, we are trying to find someone who would be willing to work with us to show the challenges that some pensioners are faced with, and how such obstacles can be overcome, thereby allowing the audience and other pensioners to relate to these situations. By the end of the filming we would hope that that person´s situation will have been much improved, and that they will feel proud of the film that will hopefully help many others in the process.
This is not an investigative documentary but a series that hopes to celebrate the older generation whilst highlighting issues that many face. It will air next year on BBC One as part of a big season on Older Age. We're now researching this huge subject area and are keen to meet and talk with pensioners, to help us shape the series.
I'd like to reassure you that our team is experienced in working on sensitive and high profile documentaries. Our BBC department is responsible for making successful BBC Three series Junior Doctors - Your Life in Their Hands. The Producers making this series are also responsible for the award-winning documentary series Famous, Rich and Homeless, and Famous, Rich and in the Slums, two programmes which followed other well-known personalities investigating homelessness and poverty for BBC ONE.
Deadline
Due to a very tight filming schedule, we need to hear from interested pensioners by Monday 20th February. If you would like to find out more, please speak to Jessica Carey-Bates: 07867 556100 / jessica.carey-bates@bbc.co.uk.
Many thanks for your time,
Jessica.