Learn how Pat launched a fulfilling new career at 60 (and beat depression too)

The gift of a box of coloured pencils became Pat Heffer’s lifeline, leading her out of depression and into a vibrant new career teaching art to others in later life

Chronic depression drove Pat Heffer to retire from her job as a head teacher at a Wiltshire village school at 49. She believed her working life was over until her husband John bought her a box of coloured pencils 12 years later.

“I think it really saved my life,” she says. “I would sit in a darkened room doing nothing. Gradually, I used these pencils.”

Coloured pencils also kickstarted a new late-life career for Pat. Her teaching subjects had been maths and music, but she had studied art at teacher training college. Pat has gone on to become an art teacher and ambassador for the UK Colour Pencil Society (UKCPS) in retirement.

Her new career took off when she wrote an article for Artists and Illustrators magazine about coloured pencils. In it, she asked if there was a UK equivalent of the Coloured Pencil Society of America. There wasn’t, but a man named Bob Ebdon, who shared Pat’s enthusiasm for creating art with coloured pencils, got in touch.

Together, they founded UKCPS in 2001, with Pat eventually becoming president of the society. At the same time, Pat started running art groups.

“I realised that art using these pencils was helping enormously,” she says. “So I thought it would be a good idea to try to encourage other people to use them as well.”

John converted their garage into an art studio where Pat now runs art groups twice a week. The sessions last three hours and membership has grown by word of mouth.

The charge is minimal – £20 for a 15-week term – and Pat’s motivation is not financial. She wants everyone to be able to afford to come to the groups and share in the joy of creating art with coloured pencils.

She says: “They all say that it helps them. They just come along and forget about their worries.”

Art group participants tend to be aged between 60 and 80, though it wasn’t Pat’s intention to target an older age group. However, she does believe that working with coloured pencils is particularly beneficial for older people.

“For one thing, there’s no mess,” she says. “For another, once you’ve got the basic techniques, they’re not difficult to use.”

The art groups take up a great deal of Pat’s time, both in terms of the preparation involved and running them. In the past, she devoted a lot of energy to UKCPS, too, and she is still a committee member. She acknowledges that, with age, such a big time commitment can become harder to handle.

“I try to pace myself,’ she says. "If I were 20 years younger, I could do an awful lot more.”

That said, both Pat and John are clear that continuing to work and contribute in later life can be beneficial for well-being. John, who until recently was chairman of a housing association managing 15,000 properties, says his wife’s art groups and involvement with UKCPS have given her a new lease of life.

“She’s made a whole new circle of friends all over the country,” he says.

The art classes that Pat runs enable her to continue to contribute to a society she feels is sometimes dismissive of older people.

“I think the elderly are often ignored,” she says. “It’s important that we show people: hang on a bit. We are still alive. We still want to do things.”

She is grateful for the new lease of life she has received. Her advice to others who may wish to start a new business or activity in later life is: go for it.

“Put your heart into it,” she says. “You’re never too old.”