It’s glorious Spring weather and outside it’s intoxicatingly bright. Outdoors is the place to be! The lure of unencumbered sunshine, those soft shadows, that gorgeous blossom. And birds chattering inconsequentially: life carrying on.

Indoors in the John Scott Health Centre we all wear masks. We sit at a safe distance from one another and study the information sheets we’ve just been given. Capable volunteers in high-vis vests marshal us from one waiting space to the next in a carefully streamlined operation. We’re slightly on edge at the newness of the experience, but not fearful. When we emerge into the sunshine it’s with a feeling of wonderful release: a gentle pin-prick has given us the ability to hope again.

A year on from our first lockdown, in the midst of another enchanting Spring, London is slowly, tentatively emerging.