I was 22 years old when I moved Leicestershire to live. I had heard that a couple were going to open their home to blind people and train them to be independent. I agreed to move to their home on 30 October 1982. I was also promised help to find my own place to live when I was ready to move on. I did undergo the training, but the promised help to find a place to live when I was ready to move on never came, or at least not from the people who promised it in the first place. I stayed in this particular home for 21 years before finally moving out.

	It was in the year 2000 that I decided to get myself on the waiting list for a Council flat. I was also advised to telephone the adult team at my local area office of Social Care Services to ask to be allocated a Social Worker to help me to move out of the home where I was living because by this time the place where I was living was a registered residential care home.
In my old room looking for a flat.

I rang my local area office of Social Care Services and spoke to a Duty Officer and asked to be allocated a Social Worker. The Duty Officer took some details from me and advised me that it would be about 6 weeks before the process was completed.

I was eventually allocated a lovely Social Worker who was to work with me for 4 years. We had a very good working relationship. The day we first met was on a Monday afternoon, and she came to meet me off the train at Leicester. I had been to Nottingham that morning on a Computer Course. On the afternoon we met we went to Vista Society for the Blind for a meeting with one of their rehabilitation Officers.

There were to be a number of meetings, visits to flats, and lots of paperwork to be completed over the next 2 years and 7 months.

I also had help to apply for a grant to help towards buying furniture and furnishings for my new home because the money I had would not pay for these things alone. I am very fortunate to have family and friends who are very generous in all kinds of ways which is very fortunate too!

I had a 10 month long battle with my local district council. This was because I wanted to go into warden controlled accommodation; and I was repeatedly told I was not eligible for this type of accommodation. I cannot remember exactly when it was, but someone who was acting as advocate on my behalf wrote to my local MP, and he got some positive action from my local district council. I wasn’t given a warden controlled flat, but I was given a lovely flat in the village where I wanted to stay.

On 19 December 2002 I received a telephone call from my local district council telling me that I had been matched up for a suitable flat very near to where I was living, would I like to view it. I said I would like to view it, and then I was told it would be ready for viewing 2 days later, but I could not view it that day as I was going away for Christmas, but I agreed to view it on 8 January 2003 after I had returned from my Christmas holidays.