I was involved in two separate events last weekend, quite different in scale, but filled with inspiration in their own separate ways.

On Friday, I was with MetroMail at Peterlee for the visit of Prime Minister Tony Blair who was presenting the company with their award for achieving the highest standard in security management for their direct mail operation. As you might know, MetroMail are part of the Saga group, now a huge company, which started from humble beginnings and a very good idea.

Sidney de Haan, the founder of Saga, had been through a tough war, including a hard time as a prisoner. When peace came, he and his wife bought a small hotel in Folkestone, but found that the end of the summer season brought worries about surviving during the usual six months closure.

With the winter of 1949 approaching, a flash of inspiration came when they noticed that they were surrounded by people who didn't fancy going home - and didn't need to because they were retired.

Testing their ideas, they launched an all-inclusive week at £6.50. Even at that price they had to work hard to sell, and targeted Yorkshire and the North East as a fair guess at a day's travel away. Eventually, so many coaches were heading for Folkestone that a second hotel was bought, and so it went on.

He even got British Rail to change its way of doing things. His train passengers had to switch trains in London and trudge around with their cases. Sidney de Haan persuaded the BR people to open up a half-forgotten loop around the city, and it worked. By the 1980s, BR was selling half a million Saga seats every year.

These days, they target the over-50s rather than the over-65s, and their magazine, once a simple newsletter, is now this country's biggest subscription magazine, selling well over a million copies every month. It's a fitting tribute to Mr de Haan that his non-blinkered vision produced much better results than the results of short-sightedness which people sometimes apply to older people. Sydney's son, Roger de Haan, the current company Chairman, was at the presentation on Friday, and it was fitting that he presented the Prime Minister with his own copy of Saga magazine, featuring the newly 50-year-old Mr Blair on the cover!

On Sunday, I had the pleasure of saying a few words at a celebration for the Hartlepool Scout Troop based in the town's Tunstall Avenue. It was 40 years to the day since their excellent new HQ was built, and 70 years since the group was founded.

There was a very good turnout, with an age range from the 6-year-old Beavers to parents and grandparents in the audience. There was a great atmosphere, and the current leaders, Alan and Ann Hodgson, should be justly proud of the contribution that Scouting still makes to the life chances of so many youngsters.

Published: 14/05/2003