JUST because you've passed retirement age doesn't mean you're suddenly going to turn into a couch potato. Indeed, many retired people could teach their younger relatives a thing or two about the benefits of a healthy and active lifestyle.

As any pensioner knows, though, money can be tight - especially when rocketing prices are coupled with a derisory 75p-a-week rise in the basic state pension.

That can put many of the activities and recreations which younger, salaried people take for granted - like eating out and going to the theatre - simply beyond the reach of some older people.

The Evening Press set out to try to track down some of the best bargains and discounts available for retired people in the York area. We found that there are plenty of good offers around, and that going out needn't cost older people a fortune - but that tracking down some of the discounts and concessions can be difficult.

We haven't been able to phone every shop, restaurant or hairdresser in the phone book: but we have tried to speak to a representative sample. Here are our findings.

Leisure activities

Discounts for the over-60s are available for a host of activities at council-owned sports and leisure centres run by Total Leisure Management (TLM). Their centres include the Barbican, Oaklands and the Yearsley and Edmund Wilson swimming pools. Activities for which discounts are available include swimming, aerobics, yoga, body tone, aquacise, "fit and 50" and gym membership. Best of all, if you're over 60 and hold a York Card, you get a double discount. For full details of discounts, call TLM on 01904 630266.

Theatres and cinemas

The Theatre Royal (01904 623568), Grand Opera House (01904 671818) and Friargate Theatre (01904 655317) all offer discounts for pensioners, the size of the discount depending on the price of the ticket. Phone for details. The City Screen (541155) and Warner Village (691199) cinemas both offer discounts, and while the Odeon, York (623287), doesn't, prices there - at from £2.50 a show - are very reasonable anyway.

Museums and tourist

attractions

Most museums and tourist attractions in York offer discounts for pensioners. For York Card holders, entry to the council-run Castle Museum (653611), Yorkshire Museum (629745) and City Art Gallery (551861) is free - though you may have to pay to see special exhibits. For pensioners without a York Card, there is a reduced entrance fee. The Jorvik Viking Centre (643211), York Dungeon (632599), National Railway Museum (621261), Regimental Museum (642036), Merchant Adventurers' Hall (654818), Cliffords Tower (646940), the Archaeological Resource Centre (654324) and York Model Railway (630169) all offer discounts to senior citizens, as does Barley Hall (610275), the Monk Bar Museum (634191), Sutton Park, at Sutton-on-the-Forest (01347 810249), and Castle Howard (01653 648444). Guide Friday tour buses (692505) and Top Line Travel sightseeing tours (640896) also offer senior citizen discounts.

Shops

Very few of the high street shops contacted appear to offer discounts: though it may be worth keeping an eye out for notices in windows. One shop that does offer discounts is the B&Q Supercentre at Clifton Moor (693030), which has a 10 per cent discount for pensioners all day on Wednesday. The B&Q warehouse in Hull Road, though, does NOT offer a discount.

Restaurants and coffee shops

Again, very few seem to offer discounts for senior citizens. One restaurant which does is Russells - both its Coppergate (644330) and Stonegate (641432) branches offer £1.00 off the cost of a main course for senior citizens at lunch and dinner, Monday to Friday, and on Sunday evenings. We were able in the time available to contact only a small number of restaurants - so it may be worth checking, if you have a favourite, to make sure. City centre coffee shops and tea rooms contacted by the Evening Press also don't seem to have woken up to the possibilities of offering pensioner discounts - though again we couldn't contact all of them, and if you have a favourite it is worth checking.

Hairdressers

A number of hairdressers offer discounts for senior citizens, often in off-peak times, though others don't. Among those that do are Adelle's, Fulford Road (639822), and Hair Flicks, Tang Hall Lane (411871). Cellini in Little Stonegate (623289) does not offer a discount specifically for pensioners but does offer an "off peak" rate with a reduction of 25 per cent for all customers on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings.

Again, we contacted only a comparatively small sample of hairdressers, so it may be worth checking a few yourself.

Transport

A pensioners' bus pass is available from City of York Council at an annual cost of £32 (less, if you have missed part of a year, which runs May to April). This entitles you to travel on most (though not quite all) buses running in York at a flat-rate fee of 37p for a single journey. Pensioners are entitled to claim £24 worth of travel tokens, which can be used in part payment for the bus pass. Tokens can be collected from the City Finance Centre in Library Square. You'll need to take proof of age and address - your pension book would be fine. Bus passes can be obtained from the city council offices at 9 St Leonard's Place.

Age Concern York is collating details of organisations which offer discounts for senior citizens, with a view to producing a list at a future date. If your organisation or business does so and has not been mentioned here, write with details to James Player, Deputy Chief Officer, Age Concern York, Norman Collins House, 70 Walmgate, York, YO1 9TL.