Patricia Faulks
Patricia Faulks is in her 70s and lives in Lincolnshire, UK. She is childless after unexplained infertility from her marriage in her 20s. She is living solo and did not realize quite how isolated she was until she had to 'shield' from Covid19 and endure two long 'lockdowns' in the UK with just her dog Lilley for company. All local, social, media and government rhetoric focused on the impact on families, on the challenges of homeschooling and the sad plight of grandparents kept away from their grandchildren. There was no space for those living alone of any age, and no thought was given to those ageing and alone. Trish joined her local AWWOC (Ageing Well Without Children) group and started her own blog 'Just Me and Lilley' and has been interviewed on podcasts and has spoken at events about her experience. She is very active on Twitter and Instagram pointing out how deadly and entrenched it is to live at the intersection of ageing, sexism, matrimania and ageism. She regularly calls for local and national organizations to think about the many, and increasing numbers of people without children in the UK, and across the Western world. Whilst there are a growing number of gerontologists and experts in the ageing field, Trish's voice is a unique one: she is ageing alone without children and she is doing it loudly. She is a 'NomoCrone' panelist on Gateway Women's free, quarterly 'Fireside Wisdom with Childless Elderwomen' zoom webinars, a guest speaker & interviewee on podcasts.
