Mr D needed a prescription collecting so I headed to Boots at Southbourne. There were 7 people in front of me so it took around twenty minutes in the queue and it turns out its a lot colder out there than it looks today!

Someone had used hearts on the floor to indicate the distance we should keep whilst queuing which certainly makes a change from boring tape and brought a smile to my face!

I got talking to a lady in front of me who was elderly, and she told me she was worried about being outside. I told her all about GoodGym and encouraged her to contact AgeUk to get some assistance. As we were talking and she explained that she has no friends or family, she began to cry. Well, with that I had a big lump in my throat because I couldn't bear to see her sobbing. I asked if she would like me to put my arm around her and she said 'yes please'. I know it's against the rules but the only thing I could do was to comfort her and tell her it would be okay. She said that this is the worst time of her life, despite her living through World War 2. What a desperately sad way to feel about life. All of her family are in Holland and she has nobody around to help her. I really, really hope that she picks up the phone to AgeUK. As she left, she said to me 'thank you for showing me kindness'. I would encourage anyone who comes across someone who may be vulnerable to mention that there are lots of volunteers who can help. Not enough people know about us!

I dropped the prescription to a very chirpy Mr D who was expecting me, and he was glad to see on the news that the rates are falling so he is hopeful this won't last too much longer.... aren't we all!