I’ve lived at the castle for nine years. It’s on the ground floor and is accessible in most ways. The only area that hasn’t worked very well is the bathroom, but at long last this is about to change!

Back in 2016, my occupational therapist (OT) said that the bathroom wasn’t as safe or accessible for me as it should be, so she recommended turning it into a wet room, with the help of a Disabled Facilities Grant. This is a grant that local authorities can give to help disabled people with major adaptations to their homes.

Although I was quickly approved, the process slowed right down because of changes in the Council’s surveyors’ team. When things finally got moving again, my OT had changed, and wanted to re-do the specification. This took so long that the financial assessment went out of date and had to be done again! This also took time, and when it was complete the OT had changed again! We went around in circles for several years.

Then, just before the lockdown in March, the grant was re-approved. I was really pleased but also worried that the pandemic would cause yet further delays. But last week I had a meeting in my garden with the council and the contractors and to my surprise they said the work would start on Monday – which is today!

So far the builders have been brilliant and they’ve already made great progress. I can’t wait to have a bathroom that I can use safely and it’s tantalisingly close – they should be finished within the next two weeks.

You can find more information on grants for disabled people here.