"The day centre is a lifeline"

My wife went to the social work to apply for a blue badge and explained to them that I wasn’t getting out. The social worker suggested the day centre might help, I would have said no if she’d asked over the phone but she came to my door so what could I do!

I look forward to coming to the centre for the meals and the company. The cooks are good, if you ask for something they’ll try and get it for you.

Staff at the day centre are brilliant, they understand what is going on with you. The more experienced ones are passing things on to the juniors. They keep calm, they never raise their voices and keep everything under control. They won’t shove you to do something you don’t want. You can have a laugh and a joke with them.

Most people go home from here and it’s TV for 5 hours before going to bed. It wasn’t like that in the old days, there was more sense of community and everyone looked after each other. I think loneliness is the biggest thing for most people here.

The day centre is a lifeline. I didn’t want to come at first, the light hearted atmosphere wasn’t something I was used to but now I look forward to coming somewhere I can get a blether and a laugh.