Pick Me Up! 21-Jun-2018

Around six years ago, I met a young mum through a Facebook group. Since then she’s become my best friend and like a sister. Katie and I began talking through this group and realised we had daughters of similar ages. After meeting up for play dates, cups of coffee and general chats, I soon realised she would be the person I could rely on for everything. She calms me down and makes me smile when I least feel like it Our daughters became fast friends, as did we. Now we’re all inseparable. Even when times have been tough, Katie has been there to help me get through it all. There have been occasions when I’ve needed to call her at three in the morning and every time she’s always answered…

Alexis loves all animals, so when she got the chance to feed this pretty polly at the zoo she was super-excited! Deanna Clarke, Derby My partner Liam and I look like we’ve stepped straight out of the 1950s with our quiffs at the Rock Ridge Rumble rockabilly festival. Debbie Watson, Pelaw When I finally reached the top of Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons, I spotted something strange. Almost a full-circle rainbow and my shadow in the middle! Mike Willem, via e-mail Any trip to the local park is good fun, but Michael’s favourite thing has to be these little bicycles. Jill Barlow, Eastbourne I love taking part in the Colourama fund-raising event for my local hospice each year. I got covered in powdered paint, as did my grandson…

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What’s that saying? An ex is an ex for a reason. Well, I wish I’d taken notice when I bumped into mine last year... ‘Gayle, long time no see!’ a familiar voice shouted as I shopped on the high street in Bishop’s Stortford. Me and Paul Beale, 37, had dated 10 years earlier and I hadn’t seen him since. But the twinkle in his eye took me back to when we’d been 27. We were a couple for two years, but our relationship had been a disaster. Paul had been very controlling and, in the end, it’d driven us apart. Now, as we chatted, he seemed different, more mature. ‘I’ve changed, Gayle,’ he said, fixing me with his piercing blue eyes. It’d been a long time, but Paul still gave…

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Huddled up on my sofa, I watched as the snow fell outside, covering the pavement in a thick, white blanket. ‘It’s so cold,’ I said with a shiver. ‘I wouldn’t want to be homeless tonight.’ ‘Me neither,’ said my sister Faye, 33. It was a Wednesday evening in March this year, and way below freezing. Working as a Community Coordinator for a housing association, I knew there would be people sleeping rough that night. As a single mum of three boys - Taylor, 18, Jack, 15, and Cale, 11 - it broke my heart. ‘Poor Kieran,’ I heard Jack say. ‘Who’s Kieran?’ I asked. ‘He’s just a mate of mine,’ said Jack. ‘He’s been sleeping in an abandoned train carriage for months.’ ‘He was in a tent before that,’ Jack…