Sidney finally gets the help he needs

As I may have mentioned before, once a week I venture out to meet up with my friend Sidney.
Sidney, which as you should know by now is not his real name, suffers from a mental health issue and I have been “linked” with him for more than five years now through a befriending charity.
He lives independently and although he receives some good support from members of his immediate family, he does spend most of the time on his own.
In my last missive about Sidney, in July 2020, I said he had been assigned a new CMHN (community mental health nurse), who I shall call Simon.
Both Sidney and I were hopeful that Simon would be a little more reliable with regular visits than the previous CMHN Sebastian.
Wrong. Simon saw Sidney at his home twice in a year. And he only made any contact (by phone) with Sidney when I, a volunteer, contact him with an issue that is worrying Sidney.
Anyway, Simon has now moved on too and Sidney has a new CMHN – I shall call her Penny.
Penny’s not been around very long but things seem to be going well – she has called Sidney several times and even been to see him more times in a couple of months than Simon did in a year.
I am so pleased that a vulnerable member of our society is at last getting the attention he deserves and long may it last.


Just two weeks after Boris announced the UK’s Freedom (from Covid restrictions) Day was to be July 19, SWMBO and I attended a wedding in Shropshire.
The betrothed couple had faced three postponements over the past 18 months and now, finally, family and friends were able to witness the nuptials and help them enjoy their day.
As with most weddings, it was a wonderful, boozy affair, with an interesting mix of the young and the old.
I know the title of this column is I don’t get out much but I’m really glad I did for those few days. I’d almost forgotten how to socialise and how to behave in public.

Remembering that horrific attack on the twin towers in 2001

I still clearly remember September 11 some 20 years ago when a sub-editor in our editorial office looked up to the television we had mounted on the wall.
It was always on, during working hours, and mainly tuned in to news channels.
The sub let out a gasp and shouted, to no one in particular, “you’ve got to come and see this.”
We crowded round the television, unable to take in what was unfolding before our eyes.
The date was September 11, 2001, forever afterwards to be known as 9/11.
That horrific attack on the twin towers in New York shook the world and the following month Britain joined its international allies in invading Afghanistan.
Now the final British troops have left that country and, surprise, surprise, the Taliban have seized control again.
I don’t know whether this is the correct decision because, believe it or not, I am not fully up to speed on such international affairs.
But I do know that many countries and forces have attempted to “rule” Afghanistan over the centuries, and all have failed and retreated.
I’ll be interested to hear the views of Bil, my brother-in-law, when we next meet up. He was a career soldier who completed 37 years’ service including a tour in Afghanistan from April 30 to November 3, 2008.
The family was understandably concerned about his six months in Kandahar. I am pleased to say he returned unscathed, other than having sore knees.
This, apparently, was due to having to throw himself under the nearest table on multiple occasions as the Taliban lobbed rockets and grenades into the camp.
In order to provide him with some regular news from the UK I wrote my first email or e-Bluey to him on May 1, the day after he left the country. Bluey’s were armed forces' slang for letters home; e-Bluey’s were the email version.
I managed to write three or four a week for the six months and my last one was on November 1.
Bil replied on November 2: “Last day. Flying home tonight, RAF willing. Whooopeeeee!!!! Thank you very much for keeping me sane (You will find out when I get back if that is true!) with all your emails and e-blueys, it has been really appreciated.”
And what we, his family, all appreciated was his safe return.