7 h. ago The kindness of strangers: drunk, alone and lost, a legendary drag queen helped me get home safe

Looking back now, I can see how much of a vulnerable situation I had put myself in – but Nana took me under her wingRead more in the kindness of strangers seriesI grew up in the English countryside, watching Queer as Folk on TV and dreaming about the day I’d move to the city and get to be part of the gay world. At age 18, in the mid-noughties, I packed up and left for Manchester, moving into the university halls of residence. I was thrilled.On my first night out, I went to a popular gay club night and got stupendously drunk. The university halls were only a five-minute walk away, but I was alone. Around 2am, I found myself propped against a wall outside a takeaway, unable to remember how to get back to my bed. Continue reading...

Politics

11 h. ago Mum touched by 'kind' strangers that offer to hold baby then realises who they are

A mum was on board the new Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas cruise ship when a "kind" couple stepped in to help her so she could have a "hands-free" moment - only to realise who they were

Politics

6 d. ago Woman gobsmacked by stranger's gesture after being quoted £2k for gardening job

A woman was left completely speechless after a kind stranger stepped in to help her out when she was quoted a whopping £2,000 for one very standard gardening job

Economics

7 d. ago The kindness of strangers: sobbing in a rack of bras, a grandmotherly shop assistant soothed me

Two months after my single mastectomy, I felt sore, sad and scarred. Looking for a suitable bra, I became completely overwhelmedRead more in the kindness of strangers seriesI was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 and immediately had to have a single mastectomy. Told by the doctors I needed to wear very soft bras for a while, two months after the surgery I went to my local department store to find something suitable.I was hobbling around and feeling really awful about myself – sore, sad and scarred, and as though I’d never look attractive again. Somewhere deep in the racks of bras I became so overwhelmed by it all that I just broke down and started sobbing. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago The kindness of strangers: as I was sobbing in a rack of bras, a grandmotherly shop assistant soothed me

Two months after my single mastectomy, I felt sore, sad and scarred. Looking for a suitable bra, I became completely overwhelmedRead more in the kindness of strangers seriesI was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 and immediately had to have a single mastectomy. Told by the doctors I needed to wear very soft bras for a while, two months after the surgery I went to my local department store to find something suitable.I was hobbling around and feeling really awful about myself – sore, sad and scarred, and as though I’d never look attractive again. Somewhere deep in the racks of bras I became so overwhelmed by it all that I just broke down and started sobbing. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Kate Garraway shares gushing thanks to 'gallant stranger' for his act of kindness after enjoying Wembley Oasis gig with her kids

The broadcaster, 58, took to Instagram over the weekend to share that she had been lucky enough to catch the Gallagher brothers' at Wembley the week before.

Politics

2 w. ago Pissants by Brandon Jack review – is this novel a critique or a celebration of toxic masculinity? Even it isn’t sure

The former AFL player’s debut novel barely has a plot, following a group of aggressive, entitled footy players as they get wasted and treat women like propsGet our weekend culture and lifestyle email“Virgil and Homer would recognise these hulking airborne men,” Helen Garner wrote of AFL players in her most recent book, The Season. As the celebrated author and footy tragic watched her grandson play in an under-16 league, she found in the sport “a kind of poetry, an ancient common language between strangers, a set of shared hopes and rules and images, of arcane rites played out at regular intervals before the citizenry”.Garner has enthusiastically blurbed the scabrous debut novel of former AFL player Brandon Jack: Pissants, a book mostly dedicated to the arcane rites that play out off the oval – preferably as far from the citizenry as possible. Whereas Garner lovingly traces the epic dimensions of teenage footy in the suburbs, Jack depicts AFL culture as a crucible for addiction, miso...

Events

2 w. ago The kindness of strangers: out of the blue, an older woman handed me a well

I was excitedly telling a friend about my resolution to read more, and I didn’t think anyone was eavesdroppingRead more in the kindness of strangers seriesA few years ago I decided to improve myself physically and mentally. I did that by setting a couple of new year resolutions. One was to exercise regularly, the other was to read a book a week. The exercise part didn’t go so well because on 1 January, I went for my first walk and stepped on a branch that punctured my leg. But my plan to throw myself into reading was much more successful.Later that year I was on a long train trip from Sydney to Melbourne with a friend and told him about my reading goal. I was pretty stoked with how well I was going and was excited to talk about it. I didn’t think this was particularly interesting chat to anyone else on the train, so I certainly wasn’t worried about anyone eavesdropping. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago The kindness of strangers: I was five years old when a woman I’ll never know gave me an extravagant doll

As a child of refugees I rarely enjoyed the thrill of a new toy. She must have noticed the longing in my eyesRead more in the kindness of strangers seriesWhen I was very young, my family and I emigrated from Albania to Melbourne. As a child of refugees settling in Australia after the second world war, I experienced the searing poverty that myriads of displaced people dealt with as they tried to rebuild lives in far away, unfamiliar places. As a result, my brothers and sisters and I very rarely enjoyed the magic and thrill that come when a child gets a new toy.One day – I must have been no more than five – I was wandering through the local town hall with my mother. Some sort of fair was in full swing and I happened upon a table where, for a mere penny, I could try my luck to win a doll. I didn’t have a penny, but I did have a fervent wish to have a doll – particularly the beautiful one with the gloriously extravagant light blue dress! Continue reading...

Politics

last month Police dog behind £250,000 criminal cash haul dies after collision

Springer spaniel PD Bert helped during Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.

Events