You! Hey, you!

Do you ever get the feeling, when you are reading something, that it is talking directly to you?

My eye was caught by news that Swindon Borough Council are about to bid for money from Sport England, which, if they get it, they will use to encourage over-55s to be more active.

It spoke to me for several reasons.

The main one is I happen to be 55, and will be for another six months, and something that is aimed at ‘over-55s’ says to me I am about to enter a special age bracket for old people.

Or, in other words, 55 is fine, but once you pass it, you’re past it.

It’s only one of the now many ways the world seems to have found to remind me of how young I used to be.

It happens every time I am asked for my personal details online and have to choose my age from a drop-down menu.

On my birthday, last summer, I suddenly found I had left the relatively youthful 45-54-year-old bracket behind, and become a wrinkly 55-64.

As I see it, that’s ageing 19 years in one day.

In one respect, however, the Council’s proposed programme for activating ancient people like me is encouraging.

I often complain that the word ‘consultation’ is missing from the dictionary at the Civic Offices in Swindon, so I was surprised but also pleased to read that they want to consult with the public on this occasion.

They already have some ideas about how they will spend the money if they get it, but this time they are also anxious to hear if we agree, and even what other ideas we might have.

So I will be going along to the session this Friday (20th) at Christ Church Community Centre in Old Town (2.30pm-4.30pm), especially as I have heard there are going to be free refreshments, an offer that is never to be sniffed at.

Sadly, however, I have to be honest and say I am a bit stumped.

Exactly how do you persuade over-55s to get more active?

I mean, I’m perilously close to being over 55 myself, and I have actually become more sporty in recent years, but even I can’t really think what would persuade other old duffers to be more active when their bodies are telling them to put their feet up.

All I could say is the memory of being younger and running marathons, and how great it was to be so fit, is still quite vivid, despite my advanced years, even though I also remember I never really enjoyed the process.

My new way of being active, which is to get on my bike, is different because I do enjoy it, and Swindon is blessed with a network of cycle paths that are both pleasant and mostly practical, so you can use them for fun, or for getting from A to B, or both.

In the last couple of years I have come to the conclusion that cycling is easily the best way of getting active with clothes on, but not many old folk seem to agree, because I rarely see cyclists of my age when I’m riding around town.

So I was beginning to wonder what use my input would be, but then I realised there is a very good incentive for going along, as well as the free refreshments.

It suddenly struck me that as a 55-year-old among punters who are all over-55, I am guaranteed to be the youngest in the room.

And these days there aren’t many times I get to say that.