Bedford man's short story is a NAPA competition winner

A man from Bedford has been awarded a certificate from the National Activity Provider Association (NAPA) for his short story.

Richard Clifton, who is a resident at Kimbolton Lodge, in Bedford, received the certificate from NAPA for his hard work, creativity and innovation.

The 69-year-old and his friend, Alan MacKenzie, have also written and self-published a book during lockdown - Short Stories From Lock Down - which is available on Amazon.

Richard, who is an old boy of Bedford Pilgrims School, graduated from Leicester University with a degree in Physics, for many years he was a systems engineer and project manager in the aerospace industry.

He lost his sight two years ago and has since relied on some special blind adapted software to continue writing on his laptop.

The latest writing project is a collection of short stories completed with his old school friend Alan MacKenzie, and he is currently working on his first novel.

Joanne Williams, lifestyle lead for Kimbolton Lodge, said: "I have found Richard very interesting and have adapted very well to his blindness and through lockdown and has kept himself busy writing.

"Richard has written for our monthly newspaper and given the residents at Kimbolton Lodge puzzles to challenge us which staff have found themselves trying to work them out, so when I saw a competition on NAPA I couldn't wait to ask Richard if he would like to enter.

"We were all so pleased that he won and brought him a couple of bottles of wine to celebrate.

"Everyone was so shocked by the book that Richard had been writing and we all can't wait to read."