Fabric shop owner helps to make face masks and raises over £840 for Farleigh Hospice

Helen started with a small basket of masks in her shop window, offering them for free to her local community. However, the people of Burnham wanted to donate, and so business owner Helen decided to make the masks in aid of Farleigh Hospice.

Reflecting on her amazing efforts, Helen said: “Grey Soft Furnishings has been trading for seven years, and we had planned to open our first shop in Burnham-on-Crouch in spring 2020. However, we then went into the lockdown we were forced to delay the opening, and we were not sure what was going to happen. We decided to use the time to make facemask, displaying them in our shop window, and offering to our community free of charge. People wanted to give us something for the masks and started giving us chocolate, biscuits, and wine. So we decided to ask people for a donation to Farleigh Hospice, and once we did that, demand increased! Boris then brought in more laws regarding wearing facemasks, and we couldn’t make them fast enough!

Farleigh is very close to Helen’s heart, “Farleigh Hospice cared for my uncle. It was a tough time for the family, but the hospice was there for us. It is a wonderful place with dedicated staff. I couldn’t imagine raising the money for anyone else.”

Alison Stevens, Chief Executive of Farleigh Hospice said: “We are incredibly grateful to Helen for raising such a fantastic sum for Farleigh Hospice. This is yet another example of how our local businesses and local community are coming together to support Farleigh Hospice, helping us to continue providing care for people with life-limiting illnesses, as well as enabling us to continue to work alongside the NHS.”