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By Alison James ike a fine wine, former Bond Girl Jane Seymour seems to get better with age. It’s more than 40 years since she dazzled as Solitaire in the film Live and Let Die, but to us, she looks pretty much the same as she did then.

“It’s probably because I haven’t done anything to change my looks,” says Jane. “I just look like an older version of that girl.

I had very chubby cheeks then and I don’t anymore. My high cheekbones have come with age!”

What else has come with age is a sense that now is very much Jane’s time. Since her 24-year marriage to American actor James Keach ended in 2013, she has thrown herself into work and doing the things she loves.

“I’m finding there are so many new experiences out there for me,” she reveals. “The breakdown of my marriage was very hard but I don’t look back or live in a world of regrets. I try to live in the present moment, keep my heart and mind open, move forward to the best of my abilities and realise what an amazing gift it is to have life at all.

I’m lucky enough to be able to do so many different things: I paint and design and have a jewellery line in England for H Samuel.

I’m also very involved with fundraising for my charity – the Open Hearts Foundation, which raises funds to enrich the lives of children in the areas of health, arts, sports and education.”

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Playing Solitaire with Roger Moore in1973 Bond film, Live and Let Die

‘At last I’m free to be me’ Actress Jane Seymour chats to Yours about being a gran, her most challenging film role and why she’s delighted her TV classic is coming back And this is before we even get to the day job – acting! Jane, who turns 65 next year, admits she’s busier than ever. “Recently I was at the Film Festival in Edinburgh to promote my film Bereaved, in which I play a woman whose husband of 40 years starts acting strangely. It’s because he’s dying but doesn’t want his wife to know.

He doesn’t want her to suffer and is trying to figure out the best way to let go of life. It was one of the most challenging, moving roles of my career.”

But the role with which Jane – Bond Girl apart – will forever be associated is the phenomenally successful US TV period drama, Dr Quinn Medicine Woman, which ran for five years. The last episode was made in 1998 but the CBS Action TV channel is broadcasting the show again on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. “I’m thrilled,” she smiles.

“It’s a great show and popular all over the world because it really speaks to all cultures. It’s also timeless. Although set in the 1870s, the same issues are still being grappled with today. My father was an obstetrician and my inspiration for the role. Sadly he died just before I started playing Dr Quinn but he was fascinated by the history of medicine – a fascination he passed on to me.

He always used to diagnose the illnesses on TV medical dramas, telling us what the ailment was and what should happen next.

He’d then spend the rest of the programme telling us how they got it wrong! I was always adamant Dr Quinn be authentic as a result. That was like a testament to dad.”

Would Jane be interested in doing a remake? “Absolutely!

There’s a brand new audience for it now. I kept all the costumes I wore on the show,

Iconic role: Jane as Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman

Jane is busier than ever but loves being a gran – right: with granddaughter, Willa

which means I have a very large closet!”

Despite living in California for many years, Jane still sounds distinctly English. “Well I am English,” she laughs.

“I love England and the US too. I call myself an ‘Ameri-Brit’.

But, as will be revealed in a new series of the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? – which researches the hidden ancestry of celebrities – some of her roots actually go back to Eastern Europe.

Her Jewish father and family settled in Britain after fleeing Nazi persecution during the Second World War. Family and heritage is hugely important to Jane. “I am based in California but my children have British passports. They love coming to Britain and do very good English accents,” says Jane.

Jane has four children – daughter Kate (33), and son Sean (30) from her marriage to businessman David Flynn, and twin sons Johnny and Kris, 20, from her marriage to James Keach. But she counts step-daughter, Jenni Flynn, and stepson, Kalen Keach, as ‘family’. Collectively, she has three grandchildren with a fourth on the way and adores being a gran. “They call me Oma, which is Dutch for grandmother – my own mother was Dutch and was always known as Oma to her grandchildren. Being a grandparent is fantastic; you get to borrow the children for an intense amount of time – then hand them right back!”

That’s a grandparent’s privilege for certain! ✢ Dr Quinn Medicine Woman is on Saturdays and Sundays on CBS Action. ✢ Bereaved is out later this year. ✢ Who Do You Think You Are? starts in August.

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PICS: ALAMY, CAMERA PRESS, GETTY IMAGES, MOVIESTORE/ REX SHUTTERSTOCK

❙ star chat ❙

Is it the end f As a new law forces French supermarkets to donate unwanted food to charity, we investigate what happens here in the UK

By Alex Frisby

ecent legislation in France mean hefty fines will be handed out to supermarkets that fail to donate unwanted, edible food to charity. This got us thinking about the whole issue of food waste in the UK. In Britain DEFRA, the government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, tackles the issue. A spokesperson told us: “We work to help industry forge closer links with redistribution charities. Leading UK retailers have signed up to our voluntary Courtauld Commitment, which has prevented 2.9 million tonnes of food and packaging waste since 2007.”

Powers-that-be say that since the Courtauld Commitment was introduced, significant inroads have been made in reducing

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Progress is being made but there’s still a huge food waste problem worldwide

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wasted food. Redistribution charity FareShare passed on more than 7,000 tonnes of food in 2014 to people in need, and relationships between supermarkets and food banks continue to grow.

So is there any need to follow in France’s footsteps making it illegal to dump food? Andrew Opie, director of the British Retail Consortium, says making edible food waste illegal would over-egg the pudding. “The long-term, positive collaboration between retailers, suppliers and government means that direct government intervention is unnecessary in the UK. It already takes place on a voluntary basis.”

Surplus inedible supermarket food is also used for renewable energy through a process called anaerobic digestion, which produces gases from the waste that’s used in power stations.

So it seems supermarkets are making good progress in reducing food waste, but that doesn’t mean the problem has gone away. Worldwide it’s still estimated as much as half of all food produced ends up as waste every year. The reasons? Experts say unnecessarily strict sell-by dates, buy-one-get-one free offers that

Hugely reduced prices on perishable food items can add to the food waste problem

lead to perishable foods such as salad being wasted at home, and Western consumer demand for ‘cosmetically perfect food’, are all part of the problem. Just last year a bumper crop of Jersey potatoes was left to rot because they weren’t the right size for supermarkets. And apples, carrots and other veg have similarly been discarded because they weren’t ‘the right shape’.

Tough EU regulations governing the selling of ‘misshapen’ food were scrapped several years ago but it is still uncommon to see such foods on the shelves. Though supermarkets have a responsibility to stock fruit and veg that doesn’t look perfect, perhaps we consumers could help? Could we create a market for misshapen products by buying them more often? ✢ See table opposite for what supermarkets do with unwanted edible food waste.

✢ What do you think? Does more need to be done to stop food waste?

Write to us at the address on p3.

❙ special report ❙

d for food waste?

What do you do with any

SUPERMARKET RESPONSES: unwanted, edible food?

MORRISONS

ASDA

“

The Co-operative aims to minimise the amount of food that ends up as waste by reducing the price of a product in-store as it nears its expiry date, and also by redistributing food to those in need by working with the UK’s leading food redistribution charity, FareShare.

”

“

As of 2014, none of our stores send food to landfill. We always try to reduce the amount of food waste from our stores as much as we can and donate surplus stock to charity.

Any waste is sent to be made into pet food, or is converted into energy at an anaerobic digestion plant.

”

”

WAITROSE

LIDL

ALDI

“

We give damaged products still fit for human consumption to FareShare, a registered charity that distributes food to people in need. We also partner with Giving World, who redistribute food to national charities.

All perishable food waste unfit for donation is sent to anaerobic digestion plants, opposed to landfill.

”

SAINSBURY’S

“

None of our food waste goes to landfill. Any surplus food is donated to charities. If food is not suitable for human consumption it is either turned into animal feed, or sent to an anaerobic digestion plant. Additionally, our Cannock store was the first retail outlet to come off the National Grid and be powered entirely by food waste.

”

“

Products are marked down in price rather than wasted. Remaining stock is sold to staff or used in our colleague canteen wherever possible. Where edible surplus does occur, we work with trusted partners to redistribute products, including the charities FoodCycle, Community Shop, Company Shop, FareShare and His Church.

“

We endeavor to divert all of our food waste from landfill and send it for anaerobic digestion, turning it into fertiliser and biogas to produce electricity for the national grid. Additionally, products brought into stores to be sold on a ‘while stocks last’ basis are donated to charities such as FareShare and The Salvation Army.

”

“

We’ve been donating surplus food that is still fit for consumption to local food banks and causes since 2012. In addition our branches build relationships with local food banks, and charities such as the Trussel Trust. Food waste not fit for consumption is sent for anaerobic digestion that creates useful energy.

”

TESCO

M&S

“

We reduce food waste through daily price reductions on shortlife products and have invested in new stock forecasting and planning systems. We’re also working with partners such as Community Shop and FareShare to trial redistribution schemes. Any food that can’t be redistributed is sent to anaerobic digestion – absolutely nothing goes to landfill.

”

“

We want as much surplus food as possible to go to people who really need it. If this isn’t possible, food waste is recycled and used to feed farm animals, or for biofuels.

We’ve partnered with charity FareShare and FoodCloud to trial a new FareShare FoodCloud app, which will eliminate the need to throw away food that could otherwise be eaten.

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PICS: ISTOCKPHOTO

CO-OP

Style notes

Flatter i Feel confident at the beach or

UP TO SIZE 32 Gill wears: Swimsuit, £32, 8-20; skirt dress, £28, s-l, both M&Co; bag, £19.50; sunglasses, £15 both M&S

✢ Animal print, £45, 12-32, Sea by Melissa Odabash at JD Williams

✢ Green print, £35, 8-20, M&S

STOCKISTS: Accessorize 0844 811 0069 www.accessorize.com; Bhs 0344 411 6000 www.bhs.co.uk; Bonmarché 0330 026 2728 www.bonmarche.co.uk; Bon Prix 0871 275 6232 www.bonprix.co.uk; Debenhams 0844 561 6161 www.debenhams.com; F&F at Tesco 0800 323 4050 www. clothingattesco.com; Figleaves 0345 401 2014 www.figleaves.com; JD Williams 0871 231 2000 www.jdwilliams.co.uk; George at Asda 0800 952 0101 www.asda.com; Marisota 0871 984 6000 www.marisota. co.uk; M&Co 0800 031 7200 www.mandco. com; Marks & Spencer 0845 609 0200 www.marksandspencer.com; Next 0333 777 8939 www.next.co.uk; Nicola Jane 0845 265 7595 www.nicolajane.com; Phase Eight 0207 471 4422 www.phaseeight.com; Simply Be 0871 231 5000 www.simplybe.co.uk; Yours clothing 0844 820 4204 www.yoursclothing.co.uk All details correct at time of going to press.

Some summer sales may afect prices and availability.

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✢ Spot magisculpt, £35, 12-32, Marisota

4

Kaftan cover-ups

✢ Blurred floral design, £26, s-xl, M&Co

b

r ing swimwear by the pool with these practical and stylish swimsuit ideas

✢ Green tie detail, £55, 8-18, Phase Eight

✢ Tropical print, £25, 8-22, Next

COMFY WIDER STRAPS

✢ Black oversize swimsuit, £22, 22-28, M&Co

✢ Black and white spot, £29, 8-22, M&Co

By Jo Winch

✢ Black print, £32.50 8-20, M&S

TUMMY CONTROL BARGAIN PRICE

✢ Navy floral, £18, 10-24, Bonmarché

✢ Blue bespoke fit, £45, 12-32, JD Williams

✢ Colour block , £14, 8-18, F&F at Tesco

✢ Pink tropical, £28, 8-22, Bhs

✢ Blue print, £22, 8-22, Bhs

✢ Blue illusion, £42, 12-32, Marisota

✢ Monochrome, £30, 12-28, Simply Be

✢ Floral print mastectomy, £43, 32-42, Nicola Jane

✢ Tummy supporting polka dot, £30, 16-26, Yours

✢ Halter neck, £35, 8-18, Figleaves

✢ Bright kaftan, £35, 10-20, JD Williams

✢ Brown and yellow, £39.50, s-xl, M&S

✢ NEXT ISSUE Holiday fashion ideas – whether you’re heading to the city or the beach

✢ Wave pattern, £32, xs-xl, Accessorize

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PHOTOGRAPHY, RUTH JENKINSON STYLIST, JO WINCH HAIR AND MAKE-UP OLIVIA FERRIER

or

Good to KNOW...

How to...

be more neighbourly Help liven up your local area and bring back some community spirit

By Katharine Wootton

Meet our experts Caroline Abrahams is Charity Director at Age UK who promote neighbourliness through befriending services and organised social events

Chris Gittins is Director and Founder of Streets Alive, which promotes community spirit through street parties and neighbourhood events

W

hether you’ve just moved to a new area or have lived in the same street all your life, it’s never too late to get to know your neighbours. From a natter over the fence to a street party, being neighbourly doesn’t take much and it’s a terrific way to boost your mood. Studies show it could even lower your risk of depression and heart disease.

Getting involved in your community could help tackle loneliness too – an issue that affects more than 50 per cent of people over 65.

Find out what’s already going on With a little research you might find that there’s lots of things happening on your doorstep. “If there’s something you enjoy doing, why not see if there’s already a local club 58

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for it?” says Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK. Local noticeboards and shop windows often display adverts for various clubs and societies.

If you’re online, visit www. meetup.com and join up to hear about regular get-togethers with people in your area, from cinemascreenings to coffee mornings.

Your local Age UK will also be able to direct you to community events near you. For quirkier options, check if there’s a local Rock Choir near you, or bring a bake to a local Clandestine Cake Club meeting! ✢ Age UK, 0800 169 6565, www.ageuk.org.uk ✢ Clandestine Cake Club, www.clandestinecakeclub.co.uk ✢ Rock Choir, 0125 271 4276, www.rockchoir.com

Back in the Fifties, street parties and get-togethers with neighbours were the norm!

ARTISTS’ OPEN STUDIOS Local artists open their doors for a weekend so you can have a chat and get creative with like-minded people. ✢ Contact your local art gallery to find out when the event runs near you

SHARING SUNDAYS Anyone over 55 who feels lonely can visit a local Abbeyfield home for Sunday lunch in return for a small donation. ✢ Call 0172 773 4167 to be matched to your nearest home

THE OPEN GARDENS SCHEME Proud gardeners invite the public to have a picnic, sunbathe or stroll in their patch, to raise money for the British Red Cross. ✢ To find a garden near you – or open up your own – call 0844 412 2811 or visit www.redcross.org.uk/opengardens

Plan a get-together Community events are a great way to get to know people and they don’t have to be a huge effort to organise.

“Broadly speaking, there are two types of community events you can hold – either a ‘street meet’ or street party,” says Chris Gittins, director and founder

Your

“It’s so heart-

Story warming to bring

everyone together”

Terry Thorpe (60) decided to bring her community together by organising a Big Lunch in her local village, Westward Ho! in Devon.

“When a new neighbour, Ginette, moved to our village, we quickly became friends and decided it would be nice to give people in our community the chance to get to know each other better. So we arranged our first Big

Terry with The Duchess of Cornwall, patron of the Big Lunch

Lunch in my neighbour’s garden in 2013, to support our local food bank.

It was such a success, the next year we hired a village hall and offered a buffet, entertainment from local theatre groups and a raffle for 100 local people. The Big Lunch is one of the most heart-warming things I’ve ever been involved with and it doesn’t cost

you anything. We’ve been overwhelmed with support from local people and businesses who all want to help and do something for nothing. It really brings out the best in people.”

✢ For more on next year’s Big Lunch, call 0845 850 8181, www.thebiglunch.com

of Streets Alive.

“A street meet can be a tea party in your garden, a picnic in the park or a swishing party, where you bring along unwanted clothes to swap.

As there’s no need to close the road, you don’t need approval from the council to do this – just gather the neighbours and ask them to bring their own refreshments to share.

“Street parties such as the ones we saw for Jubilee Day require a bit more work, but are lots of fun. First, organise a meeting with your neighbours to decide on a date and agree responsibilities. Someone will need to contact your local council about six weeks before the event to arrange closing the road.

“As long as you don’t play loud music and everyone brings their own drinks, there’s no need to obtain any special licences either.” ✢ For more information, contact Streets Alive on 0117 922 5708 or visit www.streetsalive.org.uk

Lend a hand “One of the best ways to make friends in your area and feel part of your community is to volunteer” says Caroline.

You could help out in a local charity shop or spend an afternoon making tea at a nearby residential home. You could also help children learn to read – the children’s literacy charity, Beanstalk, is currently desperate for volunteer readers. ✢ Call 0207 729 4087 or visit www. beanstalkcharity.org.uk/reading-helpers ✢ Call in to your local volunteer centre, or visit www.do-it.org.uk and www. timebank.org.uk to find opportunities.

Alternatively, you could organise a community clean-up to get rid of rubbish in your area. The Big Tidy Up has lots of free resources to help. ✢ Call 01942 612621 or visit www.thebigtidyup.org

Or why not set up a neighbourhood watch scheme in your area? ✢ Call 0116 229 3118 or visit www.ourwatch.org.uk

✢ NEXT ISSUE Ways you can help save the planet!

Discover a whole host of other ways you can volunteer at www.yours.co.uk/volunteer

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PICS: GETTY IMAGES; TOPFOTO; MASTERFILE

HAVE YOU HEARD OF…?

Make a mosaic plant pot DIFFICULTY RATING

★★

Transform a plain garden pot with this easy-to-follow beginner’s mosaic design Compiled by Claire Williams

Materials:

✢ Terracotta pot*, approximately 18cm (7in) tall ✢ Ceramic bathroom tiles: lime green, indigo, orange, jade green ✢ Hammer ✢ Strong clear plastic bag ✢ Tile nippers and goggles ✢ Tile adhesive ✢ Palette knife ✢ PVA adhesive and paintbrush ✢ Pencil and scissors ✢ Fibre-tipped pen ✢ Tile grout (white) and grouting equipment. (*Check the pot is suitable for adhesives and grout)

Seal the outer surface of the terracotta pot using diluted PVA adhesive. Allow to dry thoroughly.

2

Following the lines, cut out the shapes using tile nippers. Use a palette knife to ‘butter’ each piece individually with tile adhesive.

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1

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Cut out square and triangle templates. Transfer onto tiles: triangles on lime green and indigo – squares on jade green and indigo.

Apply jade green and indigo squares to the bottom border. Use lime green and indigo triangles to form the top border. Press into position.

Mark out and cut two leaf halves from a lime green tile. To minimise cutting, use the straight edge of the tile for the straight side of each piece.

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& craft

6

Divide each leaf half into sections then cut along the pen line using tile nippers. Cut a small jade green triangle for the stem.

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Place a whole orange tile in a clear plastic bag. Hit it with a hammer several times to create random pieces for the background.

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Apply tile adhesive to the centre of the pot then position the leaf shapes and the triangular stem.

Spread small areas with adhesive and attach the broken fragments.

Some pieces will need trimming with the tile nippers. Leave overnight to set.

Stick masking tape around the rim. Apply grout to the body using a spreader and with your fingers for the rim and base. Leave for 20 mins.

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✢ Beginner’s Guide to Mosaic by Alison Slater and Peter Massey, priced £6.99

Wipe away excess grout with a damp sponge. Remove the masking tape, then polish clean.

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✢ NEXT ISSUE Practise patchworking, quilting and appliqué with this playmat

For more home and garden crafts visit www.yours.co.uk/knitting-and-craft

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PIC:

This kind ofpot is suitable for outdoor use but is susceptible to frost damage so bring it indoors during winte r

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HEALTH

SKIN CANCER

&

vitality

are you at risk?

Our experts can help you spot the signs and symptoms…

Meet our expert Dr Bav Shergill is a Consultant Dermatologist and a Trustee of the British Skin Foundation (www.britishskinfoundation. org.uk)

‘I’m so glad I got Story my mole checked out’ Your

Debbie Chatfield-Smith (50) loved to get a tan on holiday in her 20s, but sunbathing came at a high cost.

“Every year, I’d head off somewhere hot on holiday. It was the mid-Eighties, I was in my 20s and getting a tan was all I wanted. I’m fair-haired and pale so getting a bit of colour was always really hard work.

“I’d go to Greece, Lanzarote or Tenerife and spend two weeks lying in the sun from morning to night. I didn’t care – the longer I was in the sun, the better tan I’d get.

“I always wore sun cream because I go red and burn easily, but never more than SPF 15. I thought a higher factor would stop me getting my tan.

A few times, though, I got quite badly burnt. Once, the top of my feet were so red and sore that I couldn’t wear shoes for three days. On another occasion I missed the bit of skin around the top of my bikini bottoms when I put on my suncream and got badly burnt there too.

“It was on this spot on my lower stomach, about 12 years later in 2000, that I spotted a mole. I didn’t think anything of it for a long time until one night in the bath, seven years later, I noticed it was looking a bit darker than normal. The change was only really subtle and I didn’t think it was anything to worry about. But it started to niggle at me, so two months later, when I was at my GP’s for something else, I asked her to take a look at it. It was about 6mm in diameter and had, in hindsight, slowly been getting a bit bigger.

“As a precaution, my GP referred me to a dermatologist who wasn’t

nowing how to protect yourself from skin cancer is important at any age, but especially as you get older. Malignant melanoma – the most serious kind of skin cancer – is now the fifth most common cause of cancer in the UK and it’s on the rise in people over 65.

The latest figures from Cancer Research UK show that

K concerned but told me to keep an eye on it. But something told me that I couldn’t just leave it. I asked if I could have it removed. As it wasn’t considered urgent, I was put on a waiting list and had the operation eight weeks later in March 2008.

“Shortly after, I got a letter from the hospital with the histology results of my mole. It said that the mole had been melanoma and that I’d need to go back for a second operation.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

It was a complete and devastating shock to me and my husband, and I felt numb with shock for months.

“Thank fully, because I caught it early the melanoma hadn’t spread, which was such a relief. For the next three years, I had to go back for check-ups to make sure it hadn’t come back. Before every appointment I had a sense of dread, but I’ve been fine for seven years now, I feel very lucky. I’m so glad I didn’t leave it any longer to get checked out.

“I stay out of the sun completely now. It really frustrates me when I see people with sunburn. Going in the sun unprotected and trying to get a tan just really isn’t worth the risk.

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