I read a refreshing story the other day, amongst the usual crop of gloom, about a company that specialises in property protection, specifically empty properties which would normally be left to security guards and CCTV.

But let’s face it, even those precautions don’t hold much sway with vandals and looters.

At the same time more and more people are becoming homeless, succumbing to repossession or debt-related eviction. High rents are harder for us to find, and many fear they’ll be unable to keep up with housing costs this year.

This company has thought outside the box and is solving two sticky problems with one clever solution. It uses Property Guardians – ordinary people, willing to live in highly unusual homes for as long as they’re needed, in return for extremely cheap rent.

It’s a cracking idea and it’s proving a successful solution to the problems associated with derelict properties. The surrounding neighbourhood sees the building is lived-in, leaving no room for the rats to move in, and the property’s kept warm, dry and maintained. The Guardian has an unconventional and usually spacious home that will be comfortable and looked-after and, most importantly, cheap as chips.

And from what I hear, this ingenious idea’s going from strength to strength.

It’s great to hear something positive and with such potential emerging from the credit-crunch, good luck to them. If I was a bit younger and fitter and didn’t have pets, I’d no doubt be moving into an old leisure centre as we speak!

And while we’re talking initiative, I’ve spent many column inches moaning about drunken-Friday-night-in-town syndrome, so I must mention someone who is taking this issue on, by providing an alternative to being pushed around crowded bars and drinking too much to get through it.

He’s called Julian Tindle, he’s 33, and he was diagnosed at 26 with Multiple Sclerosis. A former hairdresser and a musician, he’s no stranger to pubs and clubs, but like many now finds it difficult to fight his way through the baying masses, and hankers after something a bit more entertaining than propping up a bar.

He’s holding an event at the Lord Hill Hotel, Shrewsbury, on January 29 which promises to be a refreshing mixture of comedy and contemporary and traditional style cabaret, and all in aid of the MS Society. There’ll be live music, fire performers and a host of modern acts – but if you like the old ones the best, Woody the One-Man-Band will be there too!

If it’s as successful as it deserves to be, Julian plans to make it a regular night out for the more discerning revellers amongst us.

So there you are, two tales of good cheer to help steer you out of the foggy gloom of recession. My contribution to National Morale . . . and don’t say I’m always moaning!

* For tickets and information about Julian’s night, contact him on 07896183522.

Emma Suddaby