As I watched the kids all filing into the school hall, I forced myself to smile. I loved my job as a youth minister, working in schools with kids aged between five and 10. It brought such joy to my li

Brittany had been a teen mum herself. So when her lookalike daughter said she needed to chat, she knew what was coming…

YOU can’t just throw it all in a skip, Mum!” Bryony’s voice was muffled by a dust mask as she crouched in the loft space, carefully avoiding bumping her head on the beams. She examined a battered trun

Apart from the For Sale board, the house didn’t look any different from the last time I was here. Six months ago now. The day of my father’s funeral. A memory of how fragile my mother appeared that da

MUM, Dad, there’s something I need to ask you . . .” Chloe left the sentence hanging in mid-air. Tessa looked up from her crossword puzzle, noticing the troubled expression on her daughter’s face. Chl

Do you remember that park you used to take me to as a kid, the one with the red, boat-shaped climbing frame? It wasn’t too far from our home in Hull where we lived. You’d often sit on a bench chatting