What was your Mum like when you were a child? What was your strongest impression of her?

My Mum was a very warm-hearted and caring lady who would always be there to help anyone who needed it. Being a single Mum I remember she worked so hard not only raising us three kids but also working two jobs. She worked as a secretary part time at a solicitors and ran her own small business doing sewing repairs from home. The front room was always full of different textiles and items of clothing which friends and local neighbours had asked her to take up this pair of trousers, hem this old dress or sew this and that. It was hard finding somewhere to sit down! She never stopped did our Mum, but you’d never hear her complain and she was always so well turned out with her hair done up so nicely, all beautifully pinned up and curled just so like Sophia Loren.

My strongest impression of Mum was how much she loved Christmas and all the effort she would go to to decorate the house and make it all special for us kids. She’d sew different themed bunting every year and hide little presents of satsumas and chocolate coins round the house for us to find. Mum loved to laugh and no matter how tired she was she always would have the time to tell us a funny story of when she and our Uncles were young and how they used to play practical jokes on each other. Mum has got such a warm, funny laugh and we always knew she was in a great mood when she used to put her Frank Sinatra records and sing and dance around the house with us kids. We would always sing and laugh so much together when Mum got the record player out. She loved ‘Fly me to the Moon’ and would love to play Sinatra’s songs nice and loud especially around Christmas time. It was always such a joyful time in our house around Christmas time and god did she cook the best roast! Mum’s Yorkshire puddings are still the best in the whole wide world!