Let’s do this together

Edited by

It is great to be back cat-sitting Community Corner for Siobhan while she takes a well-earned break.

A lot has happened here since the last time

I was at the helm. The BIG news is that the teenager finally passed her driving test, after a few, ahem, false starts.

There was the time when she failed because of a huge taxi driver protest in the town centre, so the examiner had to change the route, she got confused and nearly drove the wrong way down a dual carriageway. But that DEFINITELY wasn’t her fault, of course. She blamed Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and his Clean Air Zone.

Then there was the rather unfortunate incident when she failed on a reverse park before she’d even left the test centre car park to drive around the block. But, of course, that wasn’t her fault either as there were still cones blocking off some bays due to Covid restrictions.

There were so many tears and tantrums – and that was mainly from me as I tried frantically to book a cancellation driving test for her on the dreaded app.

But she got there in the end and it has been lifechanging for both of us. She is one of the ‘Covid kids’ whose GCSE exams and prom celebrations were cancelled. So ripping up those L plates is the first big teenage rite of passage she has been able to properly enjoy. Watching her zip off on her own to her mates’ houses or take her sister out for late night ice cream is brilliant.

And, as for me, well I feel like I have got my life back. No more school runs now she drives them both, no more trailing round to sports practices, dance lessons, cinema pick-ups. And, even better, she can do the Aldi big shop for me.

The first time was a novelty, but the second time I asked she said, “Don’t think I am doing all your jobs for you just because I can drive!” To which I replied, “Well if that’s the case you won’t want me putting any fuel in your car for you will you?” She soon shot off with my shopping list.

Email siobhan.mcnally@mirror.co.uk or write to Community Corner, PO Box 791, Winchester SO23 3RP.

Robert Gilbert’s amazing drawing really makes you stop in your tracks and think about the impact our lives have on the planet. Robert, 69, from Walthamstow, London, explains: “During Covid I was looking for something to occupy my mind. I decided to take up art as a hobby, rather than as a career, as I had taught it at secondary school. “My inspiration was nature and the problems it faces with the human species. I drew a series of four endangered animals, showing them alongside man-made objects which were helping to destroy them and our planet. This one is an orangutan alongside an aerosol can.”

Calling all artists, photographers and crafters – send snaps of your work to siobhan. mcnally@mirror. co.uk and don’t forget to included a selfie, your age and location and tell us what inspires you.