Alf East

I had to have surgery on both my knees. It was a complex partial-replacement operation on each of them. During one of the operations I was infected by a bug in the hospital and their had to be further surgery to sort that out. It’s been difficult because I’ve always had such an active life. I left school at 15 but worked as a carpenter/joiner on building sites for most of my life. That’s now out of the question: I can’t climb ladders carrying weights, I need to pace myself so my legs can recover.

The operation was two years ago. I’ve been on Incapacity Benefit while I learned to walk again but I always knew I wanted to go back to work. I’ve done several courses, including one on how to use computers. I heard about Slivers-of-Time when I went round local agencies. Slivers working has been ideal, just ideal. I’ve been able to do short amounts of work when my legs are good.

My first booking was the council’s housing department. They needed a survey on energy efficiency so two of us were knocking on doors and asking residents about their heating and hot water arrangements. I was paired with another Slivers seller who was also on Incapacity Benefit and keen to get off it. Now I am more confident about working and I’m about to start getting bookings to check over empty properties for a Housing Association. That will utilise some of my skills from building work.