Trevor's voice - the need for suitable homes

We’re both keen to stay in the home we’ve shared for the last 30 years. We have made it just as we want it, and one of the best things about being up here above the town [Hillsborough] is that there’s a lot of wildlife about. I can sit in my recliner in front of the French windows and see foxes and badgers come and go – it’s lovely.

It’s also good to have space for our two grandchildren, now eight and 10, who have often come to stay with us at weekends while they’ve been growing up. At the moment, of course, during lockdown we have to chat to each other across the front garden, but when all this is over we hope they’ll be able to come again. We’re just not ready yet to move on to a flat.

My health really started to get worse when I had heart failure just over two years ago. I ended up with circulation problems and swollen legs, and started finding it really difficult to get around. It takes me about three minutes to get upstairs, even with my wife’s help, and it’s so tiring. Fortunately we have a downstairs toilet, so once I’m up and downstairs, I don’t need to go back upstairs until bedtime.

Our housing association fitted an extra handrail very quickly after we got in touch, when it became clear that one rail really wasn’t enough to make me feel safe on the stairs. Now my key worker has suggested that I really need a stairlift because it isn’t really safe for me to be stuck upstairs if there’s an emergency. I could do with having an easier journey upwards too. My wife also has her own health problems and is suffering more with arthritis.

I’m really grateful that the aim these days is to keep you in your own home. There’s so much I’d miss if we were forced to move, and I want to stay here for as long as we possibly can.