A Knock at the Door

Christmas 1975 and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody is riding high in the charts. In a residential street just outside Cardiff a loud knocking breaks the stillness of the evening. When Rob Parsons, a young lawyer, opens his door, he finds a homeless man standing before him, clutching a bag of belongings and a frozen chicken. Rob and his wife Dianne invite Ronnie Lockwood into their home, cook his chicken and offer him shelter for the night. What happens next is an astonishing story of human kindness, self-learning, incredible pain, unbelievable hope and the sheer power of love to change a life.

A Knock at the Door is the true story of this homeless man who entered the home of a young couple, became a dustman and lived as part of their family for over forty-five years until his death. But this is not just Ronnie’s story – it is also that of the young couple and their children. Outwardly their lives were worlds apart – as Ronnie emptied rubbish bins, the lawyer flew on Concorde. And yet the two men discovered they had similar struggles, and the day came when at the lowest moment of their lives the couple turned to the homeless man for help. But there were remarkable turnarounds for both Rob and Ronnie. Ronnie, spent much of his spare time volunteering, including in a homeless centre and ended up having a £1.6 million well-being centre named after him. Rob left the law practice and he and Dianne began a charity that touches the lives of millions of people. You will never have read a story like this before, but at its heart is a simple message: whether we are a lawyer or a dustman – tomorrow doesn’t always have to be like yesterday.

About the author

Rob Parsons is the founder of the national charity, Care for the Family a founding member of The Tavistock Homeless Centre and the best-selling author of over twenty books including The Sixty Minute Father and The Heart of Success.