"My motto is dump the clothes, dump the worries..." the naturist, 78, encouraging others to get their kit off

A great-grandad who has been a naturist all his life says his motto is 'dump the clothes, dump the worries'. Derek Wooldridge, 78, says naturism is 'brilliant' for people's mental health. While he says it can relive stress, he maintains it "is not about sex at all".

Derek, a currently single retired mechanical engineer from Norwich, says he first tried naturism at the age of three while sunbathing. He enjoys skinny dipping and says the only time he has ever worn trucks was when he went to the swimming pool as a child with his school.

The three-time divorcee said he regularly enjoys naturist holidays, and took his ex wives on such trips with him. “None of my wives ever saw it as a problem that I am a naturist, I think it made them like me more, and they embraced it when we went on holiday – they found it relaxing too,” he told the PA news agency.

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Derek said his three sons are also naturists, but that he has never stripped down with his family as adults. He said he felt comfortable being a naturist even from an early age, recalling one particular incident as a child.

“I was playing with one of my pals who lived across the road from me and we went down to his garden," Derek said. “The sun was shining and it was a lovely day.

“We took our clothes off and it felt so nice. His dad came out of the house and saw us with no clothes on, and he went berserk.

“He started chasing us down the road and I couldn’t understand what we did wrong. I’ve been a naturist ever since.”

Derek said the telling off didn't put him off. I wouldn’t call myself a worrier, but I was taught that other people could have their opinions and you can have yours, and sometimes