Author: Peter Matthews

After an idyllic childhood, spent in the wide-open countryside of Staffordshire, Peter left school in 1964 with no idea what he wanted to do. To give himself time to think, he joined the Army and, 28 years later, he left, having served as an electronic engineer and a military accountant. As he still had no career plan, he took a 50% cut in salary to work in education administration, but left after two years, having become disillusioned by consistently having to make teachers redundant in order to balance the budget. Peter moved to Methodist Homes for the Aged. Peter joined MHA as they were moving income processing into their Head Office. He enjoyed a unique, and very satisfying, opportunity of learning a role, recruiting someone to fill that post, and then moving on. As the organisation grew, so did the Income Section, and Peter’s role within it. Peter retired on 19 January 2012 having particularly enjoyed interviewing and mentoring during his unplanned career. He feels privileged to have served his country, his community, and older people. In retirement, Peter keeps himself busy with gardening, a daily walk, a little photography and an active blog. He also continues to help older people as the hands-on Chairman of the oldest charity in Nottingham. Peter admits that his life, so far, would have been so much poorer without the love and support of Erica, his wife of over 40 years, and his daughter Claire. He apologizes for having dragged them around the world! Please check out Peter's website. You can also reach him via email.