Perhaps it is testament to a long lockdown spent in a concrete jungle, but there was something about the tranquility and isolation of the lakeside home that was totally enchanting. That was until an unwanted visitor turned up.

As we leave return to pubs, clubs, and the streets, experts do not see the situation improving - instead it will bring together new ways of harassing women with historic ones, writes Sophie Gallagher

The first time Lily O’Farrell went viral, she couldn’t refresh her Instagram fast enough. With every second her follower count was going up by at least a hundred people.

As cervical screening attendance rates hit at a 20-year-low, Sophie Gallagher asks – is the ‘Jade Goody effect’ a distant memory?

Ending a pregnancy in England has always required at least one visit to a clinic but the pandemic changed all that with the government approving at-home abortions. Now it’s considering changing it back

Juno actor Elliot Page has spoken openly about his top surgery, sharing an image on Instagram. Now Sophie Gallagher speaks to 28-year-old Dylan about his experience, gender euphoria and why access to treatment can be so crucial

Young and with no underlying health conditions, Amy Durant thought she was low risk for Covid-19. Now Sophie Gallagher speaks to her 12 months after she first became ill

It started in lockdown one. My limbs flailed, seemingly detached from the will of my brain, as I knocked over cereal boxes and dropped cutlery at random. This new clumsiness made the simplest of tasks difficult.

In November 2019, Stuart attended a routine scan at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) following heart bypass surgery seven months earlier. During the scan doctors discovered a tumour on his spleen.

There is almost zero chance of survival for my husband now. His body is not coping with the virus.

Cathy Gardner's 88-year-old father was supposed to be safe. But he died from "probable Covid-19" after a fellow care home resident was discharged from hospital. Now she tells Sophie Gallagher she wants answers

On the bad days I would take the box out of the bathroom cupboard, pop one from the packet and then just leave it on the side, eyeing it up over the course of an evening. I had wanted to stop taking the pill for a couple of years, but every time I came close I’d give into cowardice.

Politicians are well versed in having to take toe-curling photographs on the campaign trail. Matt Hancock having his crotch sniffed by a labrador, Boris Johnson obliterating a 10-year-old schoolchild in a rugby game, David Miliband awkwardly brandishing a banana, and Theresa May attempting to eat chips like a human all spring to mind.

Head chef Kay Collins didn’t have to go digging to find out she was being paid £6,000 less than her male colleague. He volunteered the information during a casual chat, unaware of the inequality he was about to reveal.

For centuries, cities have been plagued by periodic crises. The Great Plague of 1665 killed 70,000 Londoners, and those who could afford to leave fled the city. King Charles II and his courtiers left for Hampton Court. Parliament was moved to Oxford. All trade between London and other plague towns was stopped. The border with Scotland was closed.

There is nothing more humbling than the first time you break out your full skincare regime in front of a new partner. I’m not talking delicate beautifully-scented lotions and potions -- or at least that wasn’t how I approached it. An awkward silence descended as I returned from the bathroom, followed by a tentative: “What is that all over your face?”.

There is something about Nigella Lawson. It isn’t her perfect use of adjectives to describe a chocolate mousse, the midnight dressing-gown fridge raids, or even, dare I say it, her recipes.

We’ve been influenced by social media to try and buy many things. To throw buckets of ice over our heads on camera for charity, to buy candles that smell like Gwyneth Paltrow’s vagina, and to think that a sourdough starter was a reasonable thing to attempt to make at home.

It was the relationship that was supposed to mark the modernisation of the monarchy; instead, it became a turbulent tale of celebrity obsession, social media and family turmoil. In January 2020, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced that they would be stepping down as senior members of the royal family in a move that shocked the world – yet wasn’t entirely unexpected.

On Hannah’s road in Enfield, north London, there is a house with boarded-up windows. The 23-year-old knows the man who lives there and says he covered up the property so he can continue having house parties without the police being able to see in.