The People's Friend Magazine

9 February 2022

The People's Friend - Issue 7914 - The best fiction with seven short stories, including Valentine’s romance, 'A Message From The Heart', by Pamela Kavanagh, and Alison Wassell’s touching tale of friendship and forgiveness, 'Forgive And Forget'. Willie Shand enjoys a peaceful trip to the village of Crinan on Scotland’s west coast, Holly Crawford chats to Debi Emmett, founder of the Pet Food Bank Service, we've the fascinating story of the war hero who inspired the Miss Dior perfume, Gilly Pickup speaks to the founder of a teddy-bear adoption agency, and Rebecca Bevan of the National Trust shares some tips on sustainable gardening... Plus more stories, serials, health, gardening, knitting, recipes, travel, and much more inside. --- Back in 1869, when the recently widowed Victoria was on the throne and Gladstone was Prime Minister, when Alexander Graham Bell was yet to make the first telephone call and Darwin's "Origin Of Species" had been published just ten years earlier, a brand-new magazine - "The People's Friend" - hit the shelves for the very first time. Right from the start, the "Friend's" mission statement was clear: "We intend that fully one half of the 'Friend' shall be devoted to fiction... the 'Friend' being intended for fireside reading, nothing will be admitted into its columns having the slightest tendency to corrupt the morals either of old or young." As the years passed, the "Friend" grew and thrived. Through massive social upheaval, wars, strikes, financial crashes and natural disasters, the magazine continued, dispensing entertainment, instruction, comfort and good cheer to its readers. It became a constant in readers' lives; a true friend to turn to in times of trouble.