LITERALLY no jobs come in over the Christmas period,” Jenna said. Lola Everett looked into her sister’s face, which was like her own but six years younger. “But is that true?” she asked. Jenna had a h

Julia, do hurry up! You don’t want to be late on your first day.” It’s Mum calling up from the hall. The face staring back at me from the mirror is tense and pale and even under all that makeup the fr

I had my first-time experience of homelessness when I was 11 years old because I wouldn’t go to school. To go home from the bullying into an alcoholic background, plus I was sniffing glue, solvents an

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Many kids come from council estates, but not many came from a council estate in Camden Town, when Britpop was at its peak. It was the ’90s, Oasis were huge and Noel Gallagher would go to the boozer wi

THERE’S been a complaint,” Mr Busby says when, only two days into my new job, he calls me into his office. I’m still in my ill-fitting Santa outfit and my fake beard has brought my face out in an itch