'Lonely' Laura makes 300 friends in six weeks

When "lonely" Laura Cooper placed a post on social media asking for friendship, she had no idea that the response would change her life.

The 42-year-old care worker, who had moved home and was recovering from an illness, received her first response within an hour – and they kept coming.

By the end of that evening in late October, about 100 women had contacted her and the Scunthorpe Lovely Ladies Group, which now has 300 members, was born.

"The numbers kept going up and up and up," she said. "I was just like 'whooo', this is real – I can't believe it."

Within days, members of the fledgling group – which has attracted women and girls from the ages of 16 to 75 – met at a local pub.

They are now holding regular get-togethers and staged a glitzy Christmas party attended by 70 people.

Miss Cooper has a condition called functional neurological disorder (FND), which affects her nervous system and how her brain sends signals to her body.

She said the stress-related condition caused her to be in hospital for some time.

"If anything happens with me, and negativity in my life, then it's just 'boom', I'm not well. My eyes flicker and I can't walk or talk for about three hours," she added.

Having moved about 30 miles across northern Lincolnshire from Waltham to Scunthorpe, Miss Cooper – who works as an NHS care assistant and teaching assistant – was not seeing her friends as often. So, one Monday evening, she posted her plea for friendship.

Within an hour, she was contacted by Sandra Ferguson.

"I saw Laura's post and thought, this is what I've been looking for," Ms Ferguson said.

The two women hit it off straight away.

"If it had only ever been Laura and I, we'd have been friends forever I think," she said. "But Laura kept messaging me, 'another's joined, another's joined', and it went from there."

Jan Gardner, a businesswoman who lives alone, also joined the group.

She said: "I shut the door at five or six o'clock at night and don't see anyone until the next day.

"So, it encouraged me to do my hair, get my make-up on and enjoy life again."

Another early member, Alison Law, said: "I live on my own and just needed to get out the house more often. Weekends and during the week, I'd sit on the sofa and that would be it."

The members of the group are now staging regular meetings on Wednesday evenings, along with coffee mornings and days and meals out.

"It warms me, it just makes me feel like I'm doing something good," said Miss Cooper.

"I sometimes just step back and everyone's talking and it's lovely. It does make me a bit upset, but in a nice way."

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