Siblings reunited with school photo found in charity shop 300 miles away

A brother and sister who were reunited with their primary school photo after it ended up in a charity shop more than 300 miles away said their story shows “the power of social media”.

Chris Kirkum, 32, who lives in Holsworthy, Devon, and his sister Jade Kirkum, 30, who lives in Bude, Cornwall, were roughly eight and six when they posed for a school photo at what was then Bude Junior School in Cornwall.

Over the years, the photo, which was placed inside a brown, metallic frame, mysteriously ended up in an Age UK shop in Boston, Lincolnshire, seemingly lost to time.

However, thanks to a post from Michael Beecroft, 42, from Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, who came across the photo during a visit to the charity shop and posted about it in a Facebook group called “Charity Shop S**t” on March 9, the siblings were reunited with the nostalgic picture within a few days.

“I randomly joined the group as it appeared on my news feed and I thought it was quite funny,” Ms Kirkum, who is a full-time mother, told the PA news agency.

“One day, someone who went to school with Chris and I but was not in the same classes as us tagged me, and I clicked on the link and it took me to the picture of Chris and I, which was the most bizarre thing.”

Mr Kirkum, who works as a mechanic, told PA: “I was quite taken aback.

“I think I was just doing the washing up and Jade asked me if I had seen the Facebook post and I said no and when I saw it, I couldn’t believe it was a photo of us two sitting together in primary school.”

Mr Kirkum said he could vividly remember the day the photo was taken.

“At the time, I remember thinking to myself: ‘Oh, she’s got to sit on my lap’ and I was grumpy about it,” he said.

Chloe Poole – an administration assistant based in Boston – managed to retrieve the photo from the charity shop and posted it to Ms Kirkum on March 10, who received it on March 13.

Ms Poole, 26, said she saw the Facebook post while on a break at work, so decided to retrieve the picture since it was close-by – she was even given it for free by the manager.

“Honestly, I’m just glad she could get the photo back. I know how many memories one photo can hold and I hope any decent person would do the same,” she told PA.

The siblings said they were unsure how the photo ended up in the charity shop, but it could have been accidentally donated by a family member.

Mr Kirkum added the pair’s father was in “sheer disbelief” when he was told the story.

“I remember his eyes being wide open and he didn’t believe it until we showed him the Facebook post,” he added.

The now infamous photo is with Ms Kirkum at her home.

“Our story shows the power of social media – nobody knew us and this photo has come back to us. It is amazing and just goes to show you social media is mad,” she added.

Mr Beecroft created the Facebook post after spotting the photo nestled among photo frames during a day out to Boston, said he was pleased the story had a happy ending.

He said he never expected the post to get so much traction, initially hoping it would just provide a bit of light-hearted humour.

“I didn’t expect it to get as much traction as it did, I just posted it as a bit of a laugh to see if anyone would recognise them,” he said.

“I’m really happy it got back to them.”

Published: 05/06/2025 by Radio NewsHub