Today we talk to Paul Cann, who is the chief executive of Age UK Oxfordshire WHAT I’M CALLED: Paul Cann.

MY AGE: 58.

WHAT I DO: I run the county’s charity for older people and carers, Age UK Oxfordshire.

HERE I LIVE: Hook Norton, famous for its brewery, its film society and its lunatic asylums. Each of these being signs of true civilisation. The lunatic asylums in the 18th and 19th centuries were examples of an open and inclusive attitude towards those who were “different”. They have closed but fortunately the other two are open for business and thriving.

WHO I LOVE: The Austrian composer Gustav Mahler, the English composer Thomas Tallis and the French artist Henri Matisse – and the Queen of Jazz, Ella Fitzgerald. Oh and Mrs Cann and our two children.

HAPPIEST YEAR: 1981, the Year of the Wedding (mine) but on reflection it was 2011 the Year of the 30th Wedding Anniversary (mine).

DARKEST MOMENT: The deaths of my father, mother and brother.

MY PROUDEST BOAST: As a chronic asthmatic, running the London Marathon in 2007 in sweltering heat, not stopping or walking once, and raising £3,000 for Help the Aged.

BIGGEST REGRET: Not ever saying thank you to my father, who died suddenly at my age.

MY WORST WEAKNESS? Hooky bitter. Except that it’s lovely.

LESSON LEARNED: If you’re in a hurry, slow down.

DULLEST JOB: Slicing potatoes at a fish and chip shop when I was 18. I didn’t pass my probation.

GREATEST SHAME: As I watched the World Trade Centre collapse on September 11, 2001, I felt ashamed at the evil in the world into which we had brought our kids.

LIFELONG HERO: The all-time greatest singer in the world, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who has just died. As I was practising my adolescent vocal scales I was inspired by his astonishing breath control, beautiful timbre but above all the meaning he created in every line he sang.

OLDEST FRIEND: I did a lot of singing as a Choral Scholar at King’s College, Cambridge; the laughter and camaraderie built friendships going strong 40 years on.

WIDEST SMILE: My daughter… who gets it from her mother.

FAVOURITE DREAM: I am afraid I only have one recurrent dream and it is not a good one. In it I have gone back to smoking 33 years after giving up.

Paul will be joining hundreds of walkers for the Walk on the Wild Side at Wittenham Clumps on Sunday in aid of Age UK Oxfordshire and the Earth Trust. For more information and to sign up to take part in the walk see earthtrust.org.uk or call 01235 849410.