PART TWO...

I visited the flat on 8 January as agreed with my Social Worker and one of the Rehabilitation Officers from Vista to view it. I liked the flat very much, but all our hearts sank when we saw the storage heaters and we discussed with the Housing Officer the possibility of having gas central heating put in, and it wasn’t long before that became a reality. The work to install gas central heating in my flat began at the beginning of February if my memory serves me right.

I visited the flat 2 more times after the 8th January and then decided to accept the tenancy.

At a meeting towards the end of January I think it was, it was agreed that my local District Council would be informed of my decision to accept the tenancy of the flat, but they would need to be patient with me because I could not move in yet as I had no furniture or furnishings to move in with. However, all concerned were very patient with me whilst I and others worked to bring everything together.

Before I could move in the flat needed decorating, I needed to buy furniture, furnishings, bedding, kitchen equipment etc. As I said earlier I have family and friends who were all very generous and who helped me in all sorts of ways with getting my new home together. In February I also had two lovely Guide Communicators from Vista Society for the Blind who started to work with me. They took me shopping to buy a lot of the things I would need for my new home. They also filled in a lot of the paperwork that comes with moving to a new home. I only have one Guide Communicator who comes now, but I have always had a very good relationship with both of them.

Everything came together very nicely and a date was set for the move. The date we agreed on originally was 15 September, but it was brought forward to the 13th because my family were not available on the original date to help me to move. However, I agreed to do a trial sleep over before I moved in properly because I had never slept in a building alone before. I slept here at the flat on my own for the very first time on Thursday 11 September.

	The big day arrived and some of my family arrived to help me move, and they stayed with me for the first night but the following afternoon they left and returned home to Chester where I am originally from. I am still living here in this flat over 5 years later, and I love it!
In my own flat at last!