BOB Weighton, who has the distinction of being England’s oldest man, has been selling a booklet in aid of the Alton Anna Chaplaincy.

The spry centenarian, who still lives independently, will be 110 later in March.

Debbie Thrower, who pioneered the Anna Chaplaincy work in Alton in 2010 and who is now working to replicate this work around other towns and cities in the UK and further afield, says that Bob also hosts the local Anna Chaplaincy support group.

A former missionary, he remains much in demand for the talks he gives about his past working life.

The booklet, called Teaching in Taiwan, focuses on his years teaching at a school in Taiwan in the 1930s. It gives a fascinating insight into the way of life in that country before the onset of the Second World War.

Bob’s sense of humour shines through too. At one of the parties given to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of some teachers at the school, Bob and another colleague concocted and sang a song to the tune of ‘A Policeman’s lot is not a Happy One’ from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. And he’s included the words in the booklet.

The booklet costs £5 and can be obtained from the Alton Methodist Church (office is normally open 9.30am to noon, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and the church hosts a coffee morning every Tuesday from 10am to noon).

The Alton Anna Chaplaincy is an ecumenical, community-based chaplaincy to older people and is for those who have strong, little or no faith. Anna Chaplains are community based and each year meet almost 1,000 residents of care homes, engage with nearly 2,500 people in Alton and the surrounding villages, and make around 100 home visits to assist people who are struggling to live independently.

Anna Chaplaincy provides spiritual support for people in the second half of life and their carers.