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We had a good look around and I was able to jump onto one of the lower window sills and look through a very big window. It was dirty, though, as Matt had said, so we were limited in what we could see. Inside was big, there were chairs stacked up and I thought I could make out a stage. It was dark as well, and clearly needed a good clean.

Claire had gone from despondent about the show to buoyed up, as had I. She said she didn’t want to speak about it to Aleksy and Connie though until she had tracked down the vicar. That necessitated a trip to the church the following day, but if he agreed it looked as if the show might be a go after all. I had my paws firmly crossed.

Being an optimistic cat, I decided to get George, Hana and Snowball on board now. Although they knew about my idea, and had agreed to be part of it in theory, they, like everyone else, weren’t sure it would actually happen. Our other Edgar Road friends were shyer than us and didn’t want to be part of a show, and of course Dustbin and Ally would rather be in the yard, but the four of us were willing to take centre stage. I knew we wouldn’t have talking parts – I did accept I was a cat after all – but we could definitely be very important members of the cast. However, first we needed to secure that venue.

I woke up feeling tense the following day. Claire was going to find the vicar after she dropped the children off at school, and I didn’t go with her because it was pouring with rain, which meant she had to take the car. All I could do was wait and pace the floor until she returned.

It felt like hours before I heard the key in the lock. Claire rushed in, picked me up and spun me around.

‘We can use the hall! Matt is a genius, and you’re a genius, Alfie, and I can’t wait to tell Aleksy and Connie.’

I purred my delight. This was turning out to be a very good day.

Claire arranged to visit the hall with Aleksy and Connie after school. It did have a stage, as I suspected, but it wasn’t really used much nowadays. Ralph, the local vicar, told Claire that with dwindling congregation numbers and lack of funds, the hall was used less and less. But, not only was he keen for the hall to be used for something big like this, he also was a keen supporter of the shelter. Claire said that, in a way, us having a show there might put it back on the map, and make it a very valuable community asset. Not that I quite knew what that was. Ralph and Claire agreed to work together to make the show a possibility. And Ralph said he would not only ask for volunteers to help clean the hall up – after all, it desperately needed it – but also he and his church goers would get involved in the show.

Today we were going to have a look at the hall. When I say we, I mean Claire, Connie, Aleksy and myself. I invited George and Snowball along but it was cold, so they passed and said they would be just as happy with me telling them about it. Honestly, it was lucky that I wasn’t a fair weather cat like them, we would never get anything done.

We met Ralph, who wore a collar around his neck– a bit like a cat collar. I recognised this as a sign he was a vicar. I had seen one before, after all, having been to church for Claire and Jonathan’s wedding, a long time ago.

‘Hi, this is Aleksy and Connie,’ Claire said.

‘Meow.’

‘Oh yes, and Alfie.’

Ralph didn’t seem to notice me.

‘We don’t get many requests for the hall these days, as I said,’ he explained. ‘It’s a shame that it’s going to waste. We used to have some local groups come here and the school used to use it but now they’ve got a new school hall, they don’t anymore.’

‘It’s amazing,’ Claire said. ‘Such a waste of a great space, maybe after the show there’ll be more events on here.’

‘That would be great,’ Ralph said. We were still standing at the door, freezing and getting wet.

Claire shivered.‘Can we go in?’

‘But that’s a cat,’ he said, pointing at me.

‘Yes, that’s Alfie, he likes to come with us.’ Aleksy said it as if it was perfectly normal, which it was, of course.

‘I don’t think we normally have cats in here,’ Ralph said, narrowing his eyes at me. ‘But OK, then, come on in.’ He bent down to give me a stroke, so I decided I did like Ralph the vicar.

As he opened the door we all gasped. The big hall was still a bit dusty and gloomy, but we could see where they had started cleaning it and the stage at the front would be perfect.

‘Wow, this will be perfect,’ Aleksy said, echoing my thoughts.

‘Look at all the chairs stacked,’ Connie pointed them out. ‘We can have loads of people come and watch.’

It was much bigger than it looked from outside as Ralph gave us a tour. There was a small kitchen where Claire said they could sell mince pies and mulled wine, which would also raise money. I snuck behind the stage where there was an enormous cupboard layered with dust and cobwebs, which held all sorts of things. I started to explore and startled as I came eye to eye with a person lying on the ground. I stopped, and backed away as quietly as possible.