Not a good photo as I was shaking too much, but I really enjoyed the music of Penkhull Ukelele Band that was on at the Beehive in Honeywall, Stoke-on-Trent tonight. My friend gave me a lift there and I met some lovely people. I was trying hard to think of things to talk about, and in the end I hardly stopped chatting. It’s been a long time since I’ve met new people and I kept trying to persuade them to join local choirs!

Loneliness is a strange thing, you can try hard to communicate with people, but sometimes it and anxiety make you hang back. If I’d been asked to go on my own I know I would not have gone out the house because I would have worried about how I looked, or what I would say. As it was having a friend for support gave me the confidence to try something new. I’m glad I went.