A mother wheeled her baby through the streets of Preston with all their belongings in bags. She had a pound in her purse and nowhere to live.
It was Linda Robinson, who at 23 became unexpectedly pregnant, having been told she would not be able to have children. When she was eight months pregnant, the relationship with her partner broke down. She moved in with her mother when her son Ashley was born.
Linda, now 38, says: "It wasn't the easiest thing in the world. When my son was a couple of months old, me and my mum unfortunately had a big argument. She told me to leave."
Linda and Ashley spent a day in Preston council offices, while staff tried to find a home for her and her baby.
The council found Linda somewhere to live in the homeless section in Avenham, Preston. She and Ashley stayed there for nine months, before moving to a council house.
Linda says the fact that she raised Ashley alone has made them closer. "We'll talk a lot. He is a considerate boy.
"He hasn't had anyone to play me up against. He's just had me making the rules and the decisions."
This is Ashley's collection of pin badges, which started when he was four and on a school trip. Linda couldn't afford to buy him anything from the gift shop, so instead bought him a pin badge for £1.50. Since then, he has collected hundreds. Linda says the collection symbolises the many milestones they have reached together.
Ashley remembers asking his mum if he could try a cigarette when he started secondary school. "One of my friends said I should try smoking. When I got back home I asked could I try it, and she said yes."
Linda explains this decision as an attempt to always be honest with Ashley, and not hide anything from him. She says that her parents were strict with her when she was young, which simply led her to hide things from them.
When I ask Ashley why he approached the subject so honestly with his mum when most teenagers would not dream of doing so, he simply replies "Because we're close."
Ashley, 15, now understands how difficult it was for his mum when he was a baby. He says: "Being a single parent isn't easy."
Linda points out that Ashley made the decision not to start smoking. She attributes this decision to the fact that he was not made to go behind her back and tell lies, because he felt comfortable enough to approach her. She says: "There is no point in being all high and mighty and pious about that sort of thing. We've all done it, we've all experimented."
Linda's story and the communicative, honest relationship she has with her son is evidence that single parents can be just as loving, successful and functional as the two parent family. When Ashley is asked whether he feels he has 'missed out', he quickly shakes his head. He says he thinks his mum did pretty well under the circumstances. Linda smiles.
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