Pick Me Up! 15-Jul-2021

In a bid to be sustainable, I have always bought the majority of my clothes and furniture from charity shops. However, it hasn’t always been easy. Some days, I would wander from shop to shop, unable to find anything at all. By 2015, I was growing frustrated. As the world was moving online, I couldn’t understand why charity shops weren’t also. And that’s when I had the idea of Thriftify. I wanted to create an online space where consumers could buy everything they needed from charity shops. So, in 2018, from the comfort of my second-hand couch, I launched the site. At the time, I only had one charity on board, but it was enough to get me started. The idea was simple. It was an online marketplace where consumers…

Ever yone’s talking about… To celebrate the recent launch of one of the most fashionable films of 2021, George at ASDA have just launched their new G21 x Cruella women’s collection. In homage to some of Emma Stone’s most iconic moments, the range includes monochromatic moments, flashes of the signature Cruella red and on-trend graphic tees, modelled by the gorgeous influencer Misha Grimes. To shop the range, head to your local ASDA store, or visit direct.asda.com/George. And if you haven’t watched Disney’s Cruella yet, get booking your cinema ticket! GET IN TOUCH Send us your stories and photos, including all names and ages, a daytime phone number and full address. E-mail hello@pickmeupmag.co.uk WRITE TO Pick Me Up! Media Centre, Emma-Chris Way, Abbey Wood Park, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7JU PHONE 01174400607 FACEBOOK…

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 and happiness. See flyingflowers.co.uk for more details.…

Walking through the school, my friend nudged me as a handsome boy strolled past. He was staring right at me. ‘You know he likes you,’ my pal said. ‘I know, everyone keeps telling me,’ I giggled. Despite going to the same school, I’d only known Darren Pountney for a few weeks and from the get-go, my friends insisted he had a thing for me. Eventually, I took the plunge and decided to give it a go. Despite the fact Darren was naturally quite shy, the two of us hit it off straight away. With dark brown hair and friendly warm eyes, he was just my type. We were both only 15 at the time, but we fell for each other very quickly. We understood each other – we could talk…

Sure enough, a day later, Darren began posting on Facebook and updated his profile to say the two of us were engaged. I knew he was trying to get to me, and a few days later, he sent me a message. Gemma, if you are not in my life, how am I going to live? he texted. I ignored him, but he kept bombarding me, making new Facebook profiles and getting new phones so he could call and message me. In July 2020, he was jailed for four weeks when he breached his restraining order on two occasions, but as soon as he got out, he continued his reign of terror. Every day I lived in fear – glancing behind me everywhere I went. In October 2020, he came to…

Walking into the school changing rooms, my heart sank. ‘Right, time to get in your P.E. kits, girls,’ my teacher said. Every time the lesson came up on my school timetable, I felt full of dread. I should have been enjoying exercising with my friends, but the thought of changing in front of my peers horrified me. When I first started high school, none of the girls needed bras as we hadn’t begun to develop yet – but as the months passed, more of my friends began wearing bralettes to support their growing chests. It seemed as though we were all going through it together. Until I noticed I had one breast much larger than the other. Shopping with my friends, I picked out bras to fit the smaller boob…