Pick Me Up! 22-Dec-2020

Heading into school, I dreaded the day ahead. I’d been diagnosed with autism at the age of five, and I hadn’t received the support I desperately needed throughout my education. Finding it difficult on both an educational and a social level, I suffered with anxiety. The only thing that got me through it was my love of cars. I first fell in love with vehicles when I was three-years-old. I remember it clear as day. Sitting down on the floor watching Top Gear, I was absolutely fascinated. From there, my passion continued to grow. Learning all about super cars and classic cars, I knew one day, it would be me behind the wheel. That’s why, in 2018, I started up Autoism. It’s a social media page created to combine my…

GET INVOLVED Young people’s mental health and wellbeing has never been so important! On Wednesday 3 February 2021, Now and Beyond on Inside Out Day will host the UK’s first ever mental health and wellbeing festival for schools. Beyond are a grant-giving organisation committed to making a difference to the mental health of young people up and down the UK. Inside Out Day marks a day during Children’s Mental Health Week, where children and teachers are asked to wear an item of clothing inside out. This February, Beyond and Inside Out have joined forces to create an important event: Now and Beyond. They aim to reach as many school children across the UK as possible by facilitating free virtual sessions between schools and mental health hosts. They are recruiting a…

It cracked me up receiving this picture while at work the other day – two very serious looking elephants. Lisa Adams, West Midlands Me and my son Ronnie. I love my new little family. Alexandra Low, Halesowen Billi, my six-year-old granddaughter, makes a perfect Where’s Wally’s sister, Wanda. She wanted to wear the outfit to bed! Patricia Cordon, Cheltenham My one-year-old granddaughter Poppy looks like butter wouldn’t melt. Pat Beasley, Derbyshire My little man ‘helping’ Mummy work from home. Adam Bradshaw, Halesowen If your letter makes Star Letter of the week, you will receive some beautiful blooms from Flying Flowers. With over 30 years’ experience of helping celebrate life’s special moments and FREE delivery by post, a gorgeous bouquet by Flying Flowers is a lovely way to celebrate sharing smiles…

Solve the puzzle to spell out a term related to the picture. The arrows show you where to put your answers. The answer is spelled in the yellow squares. Follow it! Gardener Hot Trend!…

Scrolling through my phone, a notification popped up from Plenty of Fish to tell me I had a match. I wonder what he’s like, I thought, opening the app. It was a guy called Damion Duffin, 30, and he was really goodlooking. When I’d first seen his profile a few hours earlier, I was instantly attracted to him. He was a good looking bloke, so I was pretty chuffed when the two of us matched up. And then, moments later, I received a message from him. You’re stunning, he wrote. I felt my cheeks blush as I read on. Typing back a response, soon the pair of us were deep in thoughtful conversation. Messaging back and forth, in April last year, it soon became apparent we had a fair few…

However, almost immediately after he moved in, things began to change. Damion was quite controlling and wanted to be with me at all hours of the day. I’d always been quite an independent woman, so it was suffocating me. ‘We don’t need to be joined at the hip,’ I tried to tell him. ‘I just love spending time with you,’ he’d smile. Maybe he was trying to be flattering and a good boyfriend, but I wanted time to myself. Even just a couple of hours. ‘I’m off to see my friends,’ I explained as I headed for the front door. ‘I’ll join you,’ he insisted, grabbing his coat. It was exhausting and my friends were starting to become concerned, too. ‘It’s getting a bit weird now,’ they told me. ‘He…