Persian cooking and iPads for the over-50s

 
Author Jill Shaw Ruddock at her home in Holland Park. PHOTO MATT WRITTLE
MATT WRITTLE
Maxine Frith25 October 2012

A day centre for Londoners over 50 will open on Monday in a partnership between philanthropists and the NHS.

The Second Half Centre in north Kensington is the brainchild of Jill Shaw Ruddock, a former banker who wrote a book called The Second Half Of Your Life which is aimed at “rebranding old”.

It will offer zumba classes, iPad instruction, bridge lessons and Persian cooking courses.

Designed to look more like a spa than an old-fashioned day centre, the Second Half has been 90 per cent funded by private donations and companies with the rest from the North West London Primary Care Trust.

Ruddock said: “This is going to be exciting, it’s all about zumba and fine art lessons and writing your CV to get back into employment rather than talking about health and depression and loneliness.”

Her husband Sir Paul Ruddock, chairman of the V&A, is one of her backers.

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