The Friendly Society Ursula Heath was a collector of friends. She had 73. She knew this from writing the names neatly in pencil in the black Moleskine notepad she bought ahead of her first evening with the ‘Friendly Society.’ She was introduced to the group by Frieda Aalmers, a Dutch human rights lawyer who, two weekly classes out of three, took the mat beside her at the regular yoga class she went to near her home in Ladbroke Grove. What started as cordial “hi” quickly becam

Hello, my name is Patrick and I’m single-aholic. And so it goes at my weekly Singles Anonymous meet-up where we share our addiction to being single and why we can’t bring ourselves to give it up. Why? I can do whatever the hell I want when I want and with whom I want. I can travel on a whim. I have tons and tons and tons of time to myself. I have the whole bed to myself. I am self-reliant with a capital S.E.L.F(ish). I’m not stuck in a bad relationship. I haven’t always been

In no particular order: Don’t let things fester. If you have something to say, say it, but not from a place of anger or resentment. Trust me, I’ve learned the hard way. Some friendships need to feel like they are ending to begin again. A friendship reboot feels fresh, exciting and hopeful, without having to get to know each other all over again. Some friendships (you never thought would) end and that's ok. No-one died. People need space, so give it to them when they need it.