Dear LPG,

I want to remind readers that it is important not to be too private a person by telling a story which, I am absolutely sure that, a fair proportion of people of all ages and from any part of the world can tell a variation of.   

I suppose I would describe myself as a self-sufficient, capable 74-year-old that lives alone, enjoys life, has many acquaintances, but few really close friends and whose children have moved quite a way away from where they were brought up.  

This happened to me one day not so long ago.  It was not such a nice day but I really needed to go out because there were some grocery’s that I required and the weather experts were forecasting significantly lower temperatures for the following day, not to mention rain.  I got my things together, was ready to leave and had just got to the front door when the telephone rang.  My phone is in the hall by the stairs and it was a friend who was not too well and needed to talk.  Even though I told her I was just about to leave the house, I got drawn into the call and we talked for quite a while but after, I picked up my things and shut the front door.

Shopping is shopping, and then I returned home and could not find the front door key.  I am sure you know what I am going to say next…  I looked in a few of my pockets and the usual places, before taking a look through my letter box.  They were where I had left them, on the stairs next to the phone, but the worse thing is that I am so busy being protective of my possessions that not one person who lives reasonably close to me has a copy of my key and I was well and truly locked out!

I then spent a couple of hours in a local café, and next, there was my call to the locksmith and the more than £100 I had to pay to get it all sorted, but I have learned something that I feel the need to pass on to LPG readers.

I was lucky on that occasion because it was not too cold and it was the middle of the day, but I can’t imagine what it would have been like if this had happened after my evening club meeting. The locksmith’s call out fee would have been higher and I would have been left waiting without a café to sit in.

The moral of the story is…However much you need to protect your home it is a really good idea to trust someone who lives locally to you enough to leave them with a spare key, I have now swapped keys with my neighbour in case it happens the other way round, but if you feel that you can’t do that, at least get a contract with Lewisham Linkline Telecare. 

GW, Crofton Park

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