John’s turn to write the blog. Today it’s his turn to open his “Surprise” brown envelope. First real life surprise was the heating was set to come on for 1 hour in the morning and the boiler failed to start! Fortunately I was able to solve the problem!

We both know that we are not really experiencing the same problems or worries that a care leaver would have. While we are trying to make the challenge as realistic as possible we can see the end in sight and we have many advantages that they don’t have.  I do actually feel genuine concern about the brown envelope though. I am very low on money and have no reserves to cope with a sanction. It feels much more real than I would expect.

Surprise though, it is actually good news. Interesting feelings again. In my real life £5 is fairly inconsequential, I’ve often found an unexpected fiver in my trouser pockets. While it feels good to find it’s not really a game changer. This £5 does actually feel like it is and we spend quite a while discussing what we will spend it on!

Our luxury probably isn’t what a care leaver would choose but the point is we can afford a “luxury” item and it feels good. We can buy fresh milk as we are low (the UHT was beckoning and I hate the taste) and maybe some fresh fish!