Fab capella cover of All About the Base

89-year-old Joe looks forward to his new job

@The Guardian

An 89-year-old has found a job after placing an advert in his local paper asking for part-time work to stop him ‘dying of boredom’. Joe Bartley, from Paignton in south Devon, is due to start work at a cafe in the town after the owners of the family-run business spotted his ad.

“No matter what your age or your background, you deserve a chance,” Cantina Bar and Kitchen’s co-owner Sarah Martin told The Guardian. “Most people have got something to offer and Joe is someone who is keen, who is putting himself out there. What is not to like about that? A lot of people who come here don’t just come for coffee, they come for a chat, so Joe is perfect.”

Joe put an advert in the Herald Express twice last month. It read: “Senior citizen, 89, seeks employment in Paignton area. 20hrs+ per week. Still able to clean, light gardening, DIY and anything. I have references. Old soldier, airborne forces. Save me from dying of boredom!”

He said he had been overwhelmed by the response to the advert: “The owner phoned me and said she was interested, and asked me to come in. So I arrived at the cafe and we’ve had a bit of a chat with the owner, and shook hands.”

Joe has lived alone since his wife, Cassandra, died two years ago, and has been lonely. “When you live on your own there is no one to speak to. Since she died I’ve moved into a flat and it’s a big block. Once you walk into that flat it’s like solitary confinement.”

Joe also got a job offer from The Ginger Breadman bakery in Barnstaple, the owner explained he wanted the pensioner to know he had been offered a job in the hope that it would put a ‘smile on his face’. But Barnstaple was a little too far.

His new employer Sarah said: “He is delighted, and we are looking forward to it. We think about these things all the time. We are never going to be rich, but we like to give something back, so when we saw the advert there was no question – the minute we saw it we knew we’d give him a job.”

WW2 Prisoner of War's postcard returned to family

A postcard written from a Nazi labour camp in 1944 has been delivered to the writer's family after being found in an Italian street.

Valentina Romano, from Como, found the postcard on the pavement and was intrigued by the postmark featuring a Nazi eagle. The card was signed by Roberto Bianchi and sent from Breslau, now Wroclaw in Poland.

"My dear parents," he writes, "after a long silence, this is me letting you know that I'm now at another site where I work on the land. I'm in the open countryside, in a farmhouse. I've got plenty to eat, so don't worry at all - I'm very well."

Sending love to his parents and grandparents, the soldier concludes: "I'm always close to you in thought. There's nothing left for me to do except send you a kiss, dear mum and dad. I trust that I will soon return to you."

Ms Romano, a teacher in Italian and Latin, was determined to find the mystery writer's family and used Facebook to help track them down.

A journalist friend working for local TV station Espansione suggested Ms Romano should make a TV appeal, and a few days later the writer's family got in touch. Delighted, the teacher delivered the card to Roberto's 74-year-old cousin, Roman Bianchi.

She told the BBC: "When I handed over the postcard, they were so grateful, happy and emotional. I was happy to be told that Roberto had managed to get home and lived a long life.

Roberto Bianchi was born in 1924, and taken prisoner by the Nazis as a 20-year-old soldier. He survived the war and returned to the small town of Faggeto Lario, where he married and stayed for the rest of his life. He died in 1999.

"We did not know of the existence of this postcard. Reading the words of our cousin has awakened old memories - it was a great thrill for all of my family", Roman Bianchi told the Italian Huffington Post.

He said the card had been kept in his cousin's old house, and that the current occupant had emptied out everything. The relic would have been pulp by now, had it not blown away and settled in the path of Ms Romano.

Ms Romano told the BBC she hoped the 74-year-old would visit the school where she teaches, ‘to tell my pupils about that part of history that no-one should ever forget’.

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Mary Berrys by Chris O'Hara

Best man's video stunt steals the show at wedding

Former Everton footballer Jamie Milligan couldn't hold back the laughter when his best man created an elaborate video stunt to entertain guests at his wedding.

Danny McKenzie stole the show at the wedding in Blackpool when he pretended to have forgotten his speech notes before dashing out of the room to ‘fetch them’. As Danny left a video continued to run on a big screen showing his ‘quest’ to retrieve the missing notes.

The slickly-made video had the guests crying with laughter as Danny chases across fields, flees a kidnapper, pulls up with cramp and enjoys a quick pint at the pub.

After racing home and suffering a washing machine-related mishap, Danny grabs his notes and catches a taxi back to The Villa where, wearing Jamie’s slightly-too-small football kit, he is greeted to a standing ovation.

The adventure took almost five days for Danny to film with the help of his brother Liam.

Hayleigh has THE best job in the world

Lucky lady Hayleigh Curtis is a chocolate scientist for Cadbury’s and her employer has just insured her taste buds for £1million. 

This means Hayleigh will now need to avoid sword swallowing, eating Fugu fish and chilli peppers with a Scoville heat rating of greater than 350,000, which could compromise her taste buds and render the insurance void.

Hayleigh is part of the Cadbury Innovation team of 300, based in the innovation kitchen at Bourneville in Birmingham, the home of Cadbury. The team is responsible for the creation and development of every new chocolate product created.

I wish I’d focused more on those sciences at school…

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