They had both lost the love of their lives. Then, at 88, Barbara and Fred found each other — at the gym

Barbara Thompson moved into a retirement village in Birmingham, UK, ten years ago, after losing her husband. Fred Jenkins, a former Army fitness instructor, lost his wife three years ago and believed, as he puts it, that that part of life was 'done and dusted'. Then Barbara started coming to the village gym with a friend — and kept coming, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, even after her friend stopped. Fred coached her, they laughed a lot, and somewhere between workouts the two 88-year-olds fell in love. Now they spend almost every day together: the gym three times a week, darts and dominoes, gardening, dancing whenever music plays, and a first holiday together as a couple. They keep their own apartments and their independence — and, as Barbara says, a whole new lease of life.