"It's never too late to learn" | News

An inspiration! Helen who lives at Martlet Court sheltered housing scheme in Brighton proves it's never too late to learn something new…

"I've lived at Martlet Court for about 7 years. I'm 75. I've always tried to make people happy as they make me, I love people and dogs! I try to get on with everyone and always look forward and not back, and use my brain as much as possible.  

I went to the Pavilion Gardens in Brighton one day, and saw a guy playing the guitar so went to the music shop and bought one last April! I have music books, and I wrote down four chords and kept playing them until I knew them, and then added a couple more and built it up from there. I was messing about with the chords and made up my own tune and now I write my own songs. I played at the open mic event at Martlet Court, one of my latest songs is about children in the Middle East, it's quite an emotional song but everyone loved it!  

I practice most days and you can't help meeting new people, music helps bring people together. This year I'm going to join some community music groups.  

I would say to anyone thinking of a new hobby to go for it – you need to keep your mind active and do something you've never done in your life and learn it, no matter how hard it is! You start to use a different part of your brain and it's healthy. It could be anything from baking cakes to learning to draw, absolutely anything! Learning something new will prove that you're never too old, we shouldn't put an age to these things, just put your mind to it and you'll be amazed!"