With number of Britons getting inked on the rise, people share the memories, loved ones and values that inspired them

After Ed Sibley’s mother died in January he had a mug of tea tattooed on his forearm – “a memorial tattoo for Mum”. Her answer to nearly any situation, good or bad, was to make a brew, he explained.

But there was another motive: “She’d always hated them. I’d always wanted them. So I figured the time was right.” Sibley’s skin is now host to a magic wand, a pair of scissors, a skull, an astronaut and a wizard playing a keytar.