At Hope into Action, we are often playing a long game, planting seeds, listening to dreams, that will bear fruit long after our time.

A year ago the longest standing tenant we had in one of our locations moved on to their own place with another housing provider. It had been a fraught time, as the atmosphere in the house they were sharing had got to the point of both tenants needing to move on, but at least this person was.

So as the day arrived, the paperwork had been signed and keys handed over, it was time to move them into a 1 bedroom place of their own. The move went fairly well, but there are always issues with furniture and belongings, but at the end of the day they had their own place and didn't have to share with anyone else...

Good enough you might think and say, but one of the dreams that they had when with Hope into Action was to keep birds (of the feathered variety) as they had done this in the past. Because I cycled past their new home often, I wondered how they were faring since they had moved. So I was somewhat surprised to see the erection of a bird loft a couple of months ago and thought to myself, they've only gone and done it...well yesterday I was cycling past and happened to notice the gate was open, so I stopped and called out and was gladly welcomed by this former tenant.

They gave me a socially distanced tour of the loft with around 20 birds in it (it's a bit like the Tardis) and then we had a chat outside. They said that they now had something to get up for in the morning and were happy. They are in regular contact with their daughters and have significantly reduced the need for their medications too. They are in a good place considering where they were a year ago and considering what's going on now (COVID-19). The best thing was when I was about to leave I said I would call again when I'm in the neighbourhood to be told "I am welcome anytime."