Strike Factory

Today marked the end of an era at Crawley Open House, as one of the original members of staff who has been working hard for local people having housing or homeless issues since the place opened in 1995 is retiring today the legendary Sue Miles. Although she plans to keep busy in retirement still volunteering and looking after her husband. I first encountered her in late 2003 when just after I left home, living in a hostel scared and unsure about my future especially as 17 year old with mild autism living alone, I went to the Open House seeking help and first person I encountered was Sue, who calmed me down helped me out with getting to grips with living independently whilst still studying at college, and introduced me to other great people at the Open House, and on and off whenever I have had problems down the years whether financial or emotional etc Sue has been a massive help. It was an honour to attend her retirement party this afternoon, which saw a massive packed hall full of various people she has helped down the years, and even 3 members of the House Of Lords attended including Lord Bassam or Steve as he prefers to be called who fellow Albion fans need no introduction too, there is only one Sue Miles. :)

As for me things are going smoothly at the Crawley CVS getting used to how things work there, and looking forward to the Australian Open finals this weekend featuring Serena Williams Vs Maria Sharapova the battle of the experienced giants of womens tennis in recent years, and Britain's (or Scotland's depending on point of view) Andy playing against Novak Djokovic should be crackers of matches. Plus finally sad that it will be the end of an era of a fave haunt of Strike Factorys blogger and followers Audio Nightclub in Brighton over the last 10 years, and will certainly try and attend one more club night before it closes in late February.