The Sun’s £5k grant helped me get a new van and powerwasher for my bin business
ENTERPRISING Adele Clarke has cleaned up with her £5,000 grant, giving her the boost she needed to set up her own wheelie bin cleaning business. The mum-of-two from Doncaster, South Yorks, said: “It’s tough and dirty work but I can do it around the school run and provide for my family. “I know to a […]
ENTERPRISING Adele Clarke has cleaned up with her £5,000 grant, giving her the boost she needed to set up her own wheelie bin cleaning business.
The mum-of-two from Doncaster, South Yorks, said: “It’s tough and dirty work but I can do it around the school run and provide for my family.
“I know to a lot of people it might seem like a rubbish job but it’s my little business and I’m proud of it.
“I may only work a few hours a day but for those hours I feel so much pride because I am doing it all by myself.”
Adele, 38, was making do with an old van that had done more than 200,000 miles and was constantly in need of repair.
It finally went kaput three weeks before the grant came through.
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Adele said: “I’ve been able to buy a new van and a new power washer, so it’s been a massive help.
“I’m going to get some signs made up to put on the sides and I’ve bought some leaflets and I will start leafleting for the summer and really push on.”
Adele Clarke:
- Adele’s Bin Blitzers
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THE DUGGANS
- The Dugout Bar
- Facebook: @ThedugoutbarFB
WILL and Eoin Duggan, from Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, dreamed of running a mobile bar at outdoor events.
So when the first lockdown left them both furloughed, they decided to launch the business. They found an old horse box for sale and did it up.
Will, 24, and Eoin, 26, have weddings booked and their aim is to expand. Will said: “The Sun grant is brilliant.”
AZZER CRONIN
- Biggest Brightest Games
COMPUTER expert Azzer, 38, from Huddersfield, West Yorks, is working on a mobile app to let blind people connect to online multiplayer text-only games.
Azzer, who is bedbound and preparing for surgery on his spine, has bought himself a new Macbook to replace his ten-year-old computer.
He said: “Having something better and modern to use is a huge improvement for me.”
RUBY WHITE
- rubysjewellery.com
- Instagram: @rubysjewelleryuk
- Facebook: @rubysjewellery3
RUBY, 19, set up her jewellery business while studying for her GCSEs and soon sold more than 1,000 items worldwide.
The jewellery, made to customers’ designs, is created from scratch from the bedroom desk in Bristol where she used to do her homework.
The grant lets her buy more materials and the equipment to sell at pop-up market stalls.
EMMA DAVIES
- jointforcealba.co.uk
- Facebook and Twitter: @JointForceAlba
JOINT Force Alba is the only Scottish ex-military recruitment consultancy offering support to veterans and helping businesses to use the pool of talented former forces personnel.
Emma, 36, from West Lothian, said: “We are in the process of implementing a new customer relationship management system to increase our efficiency and this grant has been really useful.”
GEORGIA CLEARY
- Toilet Fizzies
- toiletfizzies.co.uk
- Facebook: @FIZZIESUK
- Twitter/ Instagram: @ToiletFizziesuk
GEORGIA, 27, from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, lost her travel job during Covid but began making non-toxic, biodegradable cleaners – “like bath bombs for loos”.
Thanks to the grant, she can move into new premises with large moulds for mass production. Georgia said: “It’s a massive step forward.”
JOE SEDDON
- zerogravity.co.uk
- Facebook/ Twitter: @zerogravity
- Instagram: @joinzg
JOE grew up in a single-parent family in Wakefield, West Yorks – an area with one of the UK’s lowest rates of social mobility.
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The 24-year-old set up Zero Gravity social media platform to connect low-income students with university mentors.
He says: “We signed up 1,000 mentors in the first year then doubled that to 2,000. Now we can double it again.”