TOYAH ON
BBC RADIO WILTSHIRE
WITH JONATHAN FIDO
22.12.2017

BBC Radio Wiltshire's Jonathan Fido talks to Toyah about bucket lists (based on a nationwide survey)

TOYAH: I think bucket lists are very important. They help you remind you of who and what you are. The essence of you and what you want to do. I think as we grow older we think about things we wanted to do in our twenties

The world is evolving so fast. Who we were in our twenties isn't quite what we are in our fifties and over. We're in a time when there are 24 million over 50's in the UK

Life expectancy is growing and therefore we need to plan for this. We need to plan do we want to keep working, do we want to change our jobs. We have a right, I think, to have bucket lists that help us plan our time and time is obviously precious but live to live. The big one on people's bucket lists was to live by the sea which I think is a pretty nice one and I can understand why

JONATHAN: But then again that is more of a whole change rather than go on a trip, which is easily achievable -

TOYAH: I agree. But for some people a bucket list is about change, it's about re-focusing. The second one was take a cruise and then you had really lovely ones, which I think are very poignant like going skinny dipping. Someone just wanted to own a sit-on lawnmower, which speaks fathoms about how they are fed up on a Sunday mowing the lawn

JONATHAN: You seem to have ticked off quite few of these things on your bucket list already. So what's yours still on there?

TOYAH: I would love to see Iceland. I would love to sculpt. Make pottery. I would love to cut a diamond. I want to see what a rough diamond looks like and how you judge how to cut it

JONATHAN: You used to live in Wiltshire around Broad Chalke, Salisbury. Was there anything in that area that you ticked off your list - like going to Stonehenge is one on many people's lists

TOYAH: I ticked off so much off my list because at the time I lived there I made a programme, which was literally about bucket lists. I even flew a Microlight, which I'm telling you I'm never doing again. I have never cried to much in my life with terror

One of the things we're talking about today is planning for the inevitable so that everyone around you can celebrate your life at the very end and making plans with your loved ones about what you want in the end. The practicalities of what you want

There's a revolution going on. I don't believe 50 is old. But you start to have time on your hands therefore the bucket list and why not make the necessary plans so you can enjoy your bucket list. Things like funeral care, perhaps putting money aside for your funeral, which freezes the cost so you can have the funeral that you want your family to have for you. And it takes the weight of their shoulders at a time when they're coping with grief

JONATHAN: Celebrities – one of the people that came out of this research – David Attenborough -

TOYAH: I was in a room with David Attenborough four years ago when he would've been 86. He just blew me away! He was vibrant, alive and chatty and active. And I thought thank you! You are role model

For me, I don't care what your job is and how much you earn, I look at an individual and I see a miracle in front of me because let's face it we are all utterly unique. So you have a right to your bucket list and your dreams no matter what age you are