Volunteer Rebecca Cook brings some Christmas cheer to lonely people

When Cheryl Barnacle boarded a plane to Florida in 2006, she thought life couldn’t get any better. She and husband Clive had just celebrated their silver wedding anniversary, looking forward to motorb

When you pull at the threads of clothing ‘take-back’ schemes, all may not be as it seems. We explore what happens when textiles reach the end of their life, and the environmental consequences of their disposal

“Breaking up is never easy, I know…” Good old Abba – always ready with an apposite lyric, though in this case I suppose it should be “Letting go is never easy” as I say farewell to the garden I have m

In last month’s column (see issue 375, p113), I mentioned I had attended FixFest 2025 (tinyurl. com/376fixfest), a two-day international repair conference organised by those lovely people at the Resta

Cheryl Barnacle, 68, was devastated when her husband Clive died of cancer. But she’s channelled her grief into something positive…