Relocation: Tina and John Wren

When ex-pats Tina and John Wren visited their native Scotland in summer 2017 they expected to stay for just a few weeks and never thought that their trip would end with a permanent relocation.

Tina needed to spend a short time at the University of the West of Scotland as part of her studies, before returning to their home in Malta. But all that suddenly changed when John suffered a near-fatal heart attack at a Hearts football match, and needed to be hospitalised.

Tina recalled:

“John died for six minutes, and if it wasn’t for a group of football fans who performed CPR on him in the stands, I’d have lost him. I was told he needed a triple heart-bypass, and I then realised we’d need to move back to Scotland permanently.

“Because we’d been staying in temporary university accommodation, and John was to be discharged within a few weeks and needed a suitable place to recover, I didn’t know where to turn.”

Due to their personal circumstances, the couple could not find any suitable temporary accommodation or financial support.

Fortunately, because of her time as an Aircraftwoman in the RAF during her 20s, Tina was eligible for support from the RAF Association, the charity that supports the RAF family. She applied for help, and it quickly arrived in the form of caseworker George Prentice.

Tina said:

“This wonderful gentleman from the RAF Association turned up at the hospital, and things quickly started settling down.”

“George took me to a local café, where I was able to tell him everything that had happened. He understood our situation and how urgently we needed help.”

George, a retired RAF Corporal from Eyemouth, worked with the RAF Association’s Malta Branch and Edinburgh Branch to support the couple’s relocation, and applied on the couple’s behalf for funding from other military charities including the RAF Benevolent Fund and Poppy Scotland.

George said:

“We helped the couple move all their possessions from Malta to Scotland and relieved them of the burden of relocation. I made sure I was available to update and encourage Tina, who was feeling alone and vulnerable while John was recovering in hospital.”

George helped the couple to find a place to live in Stirling, where Tina took time off from her studies to look after John in their new home.

Two years later, Tina graduated from the University of the West of Scotland with a Master’s Degree in Applied Social Science and Global Social Work, and John had made a full recovery.

Tina said:

“Our lives were turned upside down that summer, but thanks to George and the RAF Association we’re now back on track and looking to the future. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to live through, and I don’t know what I’d have done without their help.”