Today, I heard from a former patient of mine that he/she has passed a milestone in their life. I’m not going in to this in detail for reasons of patient confidentiality, but suffice to say that tonight I feel I’ve genuinely helped someone take a major step towards their new life.

Chuffed? Too right I am!

Well folks, its 08:52 on a bright ‘n’ breezy Tuesday morning and I’m writing this as I oversee a student taking a test. I’m prompted to write this as I look at the student working her way through a test that will form part of a larger qualification she’s undertaking, and I’m thinking how privileged I am to witness the progress she’s made.

My day work involves the tutoring of folk with long term drug/alcohol and/or mental health issues, some also have physical impairments: loss of limbs due to ulceration and so forth, so, its a pretty challenging  job. Sometimes though, a student will come along who has a particular aptitude for computing and really excels at it. This girl is one such student. I wonder though, what does the future hold for her?

Perhaps a more pertinent question might be: what can I do to help this student make the leap from chaos to stability?

Or what will the next incumbent government of the UK do to help this girl and the many others like her?

One thing I am certain of this morning as the student finishes is this: she’s smiling. She’s passed.