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Thursday, November 18, 2021 13

Newbury Weekly News

NEWBURY NEWS

No talk about the kids Mumsnot website is a growing community of women with stories to tell

A WEBSITE that aims to bring people together has been launched in West Berkshire during the Covid lockdown. Initially, Mandy Clarkwant- ed a space where people who did not have children – either by choice or by fate – would be able to connect with others. But since the coronavirus pandemic she says she realis- es it can be so much more, to so many more people. The idea came about while she was in the bath pon- dering what she’d heard on that morning’s Chris Evans’ breakfast show. “I was wondering where all the other not-mums were,” Mandy said. “I thought about doing a blog and by doing it I would find a community. “I love to hear Chris and the team chat on about their kids, but even now, though I’m now in my 50s, I find I’m still slight- ly tuned in to feeling that I missed out. “I have a few amazing non- mum friends, but where are all the other women, the ones who chose not to listen out for the pitter-patter of tiny feet? “And the ones who, like me, tried but didn’t get to the finish line or the ones who just plain missed the boat and were left sobbing into a pint of gin?”

By SARAH BOSLEY sarah.bosley@newburynews.co.uk @newburytoday

Jumping out of her bath, she grabbed her laptop and Mumsnot was born – a place to “create conversations and a community of people who aim to keep each other fuelled with interesting observations about life or maybe even just laughs”. And now she has joined forces with a mum from New- bury, Jenni Collins, to spread the word. The pair met a decade ago at Compton Players and now meet every week as they con- tinue to grow Mumsnot and plan its future. The website offers a place where you can read “uplifting and encouraging stories from some wonderful women” and has a growing international audience. It began by lifting the lid on their not-mum lives and show- ing readers just how wonder- ful those lives are. Now it has grown to encom- pass stories from women from all walks of life, sharing their stories, their ups and downs. “We are not excluding any- one though,” said Jenni, who is currently studying for a masters in history. “We have a not-grandma. It’s all inclu-

Highways workers repair the damage

M4 sinkhole sparks weekend of misery

Mandy Clark and Jenni Collins

THE opening of a huge sink- hole on the M4 led to major delays for travellers in the Hungerford area through- out Saturday and Sunday. The sinkhole was discov- ered during routine mainte- nance on Saturday morning, with emergency repair works forcing the closure of multiple lanes between Junctions 14 and 15. At times, delays of over an hour – and miles of tailbacks – were reported along the mo- torway, with normal traffic conditions not resuming until the early hours of Monday. This followed the resurfac- ing of the sinkhole, which was photographed by highways workers at the scene. The images document the scale of the damage.

sive and everybody’s view is validated. “It’s a place for everyone’s stories; a place where every- one has a voice. “It’s a nice place for people to be and meet people, but not have that constant focus on family and kids.” Mandy, who used to be a musician and has appeared on Top of the Pops, said the plan was to continue finding more contributors to talk about “their passions” on the blog. She eventually hopes they will be able to start meeting up in real life as well as online. “The focus is not about not having children,” she added. “It’s about the person. I like people and I am interested in

people. “We have met some really interesting people and we’re really grateful that people are taking the time to do this for us. “In lockdown I felt ‘yey, they have got each other’ and it was lovely; although it was a hard time, it was all about connecting people. “It’s not even people who are completely like-minded; it’s about learning from peo- ple. “It’s about what keeps peo- ple going; what their passions are; it’s about sharing life sto- ries. Visit www.mumsnot.net or follow it on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @themumsnot

The sinkhole on the M4

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