Amanda Merrick

Women who behave rarely make history @MerrickLegal @Merrick_Life @LawtoDoor

[Dare to Dream @Dare2DreamBook]

We often talk about giving children opportunities.

But the greatest gift is giving them belief.

This children’s book is inspired by the early journey of Imran Khan — a story of dreams, courage, and resilience that every child should hear.

[Proudofus.uk @ProudofusUK]

Housework isn't work. Right? 🤨

Tell that to the British women who were getting paid sick leave for it in 1780. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧

Across England, working women had a problem.

If they got sick, there was no help coming.

❌ No government. ❌ No employer. ❌ No safety net.

So they built their own. 💪

They called them Female Friendly Societies.

English and British women pooling their pennies every week into a common fund. 🪙

So that if one of them fell, the others would catch her. 🤝

But here is what made them extraordinary. 👇

The men's societies said: if you can't do your job, you get paid. Simple enough.

The women's societies went further. ✍️

Their rules said: housework is work. 🏠 Childcare is work. 👶 If you are too sick to clean, to cook, to care for your children... You get paid. 🪙

Nearly two hundred years before anyone else thought to say it. 😮

Written down by women who had never been to university. Who had no legal training. Who had no political power.

Who simply looked at their lives and said: this is work. And we deserve to be protected when we cannot do it. 💪

Nobody told them to. Nobody gave them permission. 🚫

British women just did it. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Town by town. Village by village. Across England.

The world didn't pay them for doing it. So they paid each other for losing it. Every penny from their own pockets. Nobody else was going to. 🪙

Our history is the same. Nobody else is coming to save it. So we do it ourselves. Together. 🤝

Be part of us 👉 https://t.co/rih7iKwnvf 👈🙏

Be Proud Of Us. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇨🇮🇬🇧

[Mr PitBull Stories @MrPitbull07]

She ate lunch alone for 730 days straight. What this 16-year-old built from that pain now protects millions of kids worldwide.

Seventh grade. Natalie Hampton carried her tray through a packed cafeteria and felt it — that specific, suffocating dread of not knowing where to go.

She'd already learned what happened when you approached the wrong table. The silence. The turned backs. The whispered laughter that followed you all the way to the empty table by the wall.

The one everyone could see.

The one that said: nobody wants her.

For two full years — 730 consecutive lunches — that table was hers. Alone.

The bullying went further than whispers. She was shoved into lockers. Four physical attacks in two weeks. She came home with scratches and bruises. When she finally reported it, school administrators sent her to counseling — to find out what she was doing wrong.

The isolation grew so heavy she was hospitalized for anxiety.

Then ninth grade came. A new school. And almost overnight — everything changed. Students welcomed her. She made friends within weeks. She finally knew what safe felt like.

But she couldn't stop thinking about the kids still sitting at the wall table. Right now. Today.

She remembered what she'd needed most during all those lunches. Not a teacher. Not a pamphlet. Just one person saying: "You can sit with us."

So at 16 — with zero coding experience and "a lot of enthusiasm," as she put it — Natalie built exactly that.

She called it Sit With Us.

The idea was simple and genius: students sign up as "ambassadors," keeping their table open. Other kids privately browse available tables on their phones before ever walking into the cafeteria — and show up knowing they're already welcome.

No public rejection. No moment of judgment. Just a guaranteed seat.

Within 7 days of launching: 10,000 downloads.

Then the world found her. NPR. The Washington Post. CBS News. Messages from Morocco, Australia, the Philippines, France — kids who'd been eating alone for years, finally finding a place to belong.

Sit With Us now operates in 30 countries.

"Even if it helps one person," Natalie said quietly, "it was worth building."

She turned 730 lunches of loneliness into a lifeline for millions.

That's not just survival. That's transformation.

[Eric Markowitz @EricMarkowitz]

https://t.co/dFEzoaUtZ6

[Vinnie Sullivan @VinnieSull1van]

The importance of the local pub and how they bring us together has been so obvious for so long that it's impossible to suggest that their decline has been anything other than to push us apart.

[No Farmers, No Food @NoFarmsNoFoods]

Important words from Jeremy Clarkson about the decline in many rural services and the loss of so many village pubs. This is causing loneliness and a loss of community spirit.

[Epilepsy Society @epilepsysociety]

The Epilepsy and Menopause Register

The University of Manchester is launching a study to improve knowledge around the intersection between epilepsy and menopause. For more information and to take part in the research study, scan the QR code on the poster.
#epilepsy #menopause

[Merrick @MerrickLegal]

With the Law on Our Side: How the Law Works for Everyone and How We Can Make It Work Better, new book by Lady Hale reviewed in The Observer today. We hear you, my Lady, with plans for our next initiative already well advanced! #lawforgood #AccessToJustice #FamilyLaw

[129 Didsbury @129Didsbury]

https://t.co/s5TIu8shrL

Our #newplace is now live on Airbnb with availability during #Oasis week and the tram to Heaton Park just a five minute walk from the front door! #SelfCateringCottage

[Merrick @MerrickLegal]

Wishing you an egg-cellant Easter Sunday!

[Merrick @MerrickLegal]

A dip in to the archives is giving us those happy #GalentinesDayVibes #friendshipgoals @Merrick_Life #morethanfamilylaw

https://t.co/lReQtyPKJs

[Amanda Merrick @MerrickAJ]

@stephledigo #DaveDay ??

[Amanda Merrick @MerrickAJ]

Day two of working in #Cumbria with @LawtoDoor, the rain has gone and a walk down to the lake makes for a great start to the day. Happy Hump Day!

[Amanda Merrick @MerrickAJ]

Lobster pots II

[Amanda Merrick @MerrickAJ]

Lobster pots

[Amanda Merrick @MerrickAJ]

On the road with @LawtoDoor delivering #familylaw advice in #Cumbria and a great night’s sleep in one of the lovely rooms at The Hive, Hawkshead -
https://t.co/ID0AC1l8cB.
Here’s to a breakfast that sets me up for the day!

[#LawtoDoor @LawtoDoor]

A glorious evening for pizza and Prosecco @poppi_red! #LakeDistrict #Cumbria #ontheroad

[All On The Board @allontheboard]

Today is International Epilepsy Day.
Sending love and support to everybody in the world with this condition.

#InternationalEpilepsyDay #Epilepsy #EpilepsyDay

[Merrick @MerrickLegal]

We're looking for that special someone who can help us grow.

Know someone with expertise in family law, divorce, children and financial settlements looking for their next opportunity?

Details at https://t.co/khVaI51ZlK

#familylaw #legalrecruitment #solicitorjobs

[Amanda Merrick @MerrickAJ]

The honours are all mine. A glorious day to be delivering @MerrickLegal #FamilyLaw advice in the South Lakes ❤️#Cumbria

[#LawtoDoor @LawtoDoor]

Lots of goodies to be had at Plumgarth’s Lakeland Food Park, and the sun is shining! How we love to be on the road in the #LakeDistrict @lovinglyartisan @GingerBakers #WagtailKitchen