How Sense College sparked Asif and Ashton’s friendship

Asif and Ashton are two friends who met while attending Sense College. They used video calls to stay connected during lockdowns. Lynn, Ashton’s mum, and Saima, Asif’s sister, explain their friendship, and how they coped during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lynn, Ashton’s mum

They’ve always been so lovely together. They’re just like two old men. We’ve tried to keep them connected during lockdown with video calls and Ashton would have his ear on my phone. Now Asif is back at Sense, Ashton is full of smiles.

The past year has been very hard. Ashton likes to be doing things. He likes to be out. We go to the park and he likes to throw the ball for the dog. He can’t walk long distances, so we’ll do a walk with the wheelchair. We take drinks and crisps, but he needs to see people.

He’s very tactile and loves hugging. There’s no social distancing with him. That’s been really hard.

We’re lucky that we had an allotment and things to amuse him here. He’s just a very friendly social lad and he does love his best friend.

I love it that Ashton and Asif are back together. I’m overjoyed and he’s just so happy. For me it’s lovely that he’s going somewhere nice and seeing his friends.

Saima, Asif’s sister

For us, the past year we’ve been keeping it really basic. Asif just stayed at home most of the time. There were occasions where he did have Zoom catch ups with a few of his friends but it’s just not the same being in person.

He really misses that independence and that routine. It was a struggle. He really misses just being at Sense and that space where he can be expressive.

Now he’s back, he’s just extremely happy. We understand that he missed going to Sense and Ashton, but we didn’t appreciate to what extent.

When he first went, he came back so happy. When he attended, I remember picking him up and he was so happy to have seen Ashton. I remember seeing him just laughing. As a family, it makes us so happy to see him like this.

When we told him that he was going to get the vaccine, Asif put two and two together and he knew that he’d go back to Sense.

Asif is just a happy young guy. For the family, we’re just so grateful and indebted to Sense for keeping in contact with him.