Accrington shop owners raise hundreds for kids using food banks

Amanda Hyatt opened Macy Jade’s Boutique seven years ago when she fell on hard times after her son, Reeve, was born with a rare genetic disorder meaning she had to quit her job to take care of him.

The mum-of-three needed to find something to help pay the bills so decided to start up a clothing business.

Her friends at Expertise helped her set up a shop above the hairdressers and Macy Jade’s Boutique was born.

Amanda and her son delivered selection boxes to Rhyddings Methodist Church, Oswaldtwistle and St James’s Church, Accrington (Image: Amanda Hyatt)

Amanda said: “Seven and a half years later, I’ve got a nice little business thanks to the community so I’m always so grateful for that because if people didn’t support me, I wouldn’t be here for Reeve.

"The local people here are so supportive and there’s a few ladies that come into the shop that work at food banks.

“Everything’s so bad at the moment and people who are working full time are using food banks.

"Working over 40 hours a week and paying off your bills and not being able to feed your family is just heart-breaking. So I thought, I’ll put a £100 voucher in and do a little raffle at my shop to see if we can get some selection boxes to children at food banks.

“Before I knew it, local businesses were contacting me saying ‘we’ll donate a prize’ and the list of prizes just kept growing.”

Julie Hyatt, the owner of Barbara Kays and A Bit O’Summat in Whalley Road, Accrington contacted Amanda saying she would sell tickets in her shop to help.

Between the two, they have managed to raise £600 which has all gone towards buying discounted selection boxes thanks to the support from Asda and Tesco.

This week, the pair will be dropping off the 500 selection boxes to four local food banks including Oswaldtwistle Community Food Bank, who have over 30 families that they provide to.

Data from the Trussell Trust shows the number of children in Blackburn with Darwen who received emergency food parcels between April 2021 and March 2022 (7,859) is over twice the amount (3,412) than in April 2017 to 2018.

Emma Revie, chief executive of Trussell Trust, stated: “People are telling us they’re skipping meals so they can feed their children; they are turning off essential appliances so they can afford internet access for their kids to do their homework.

“How can this be right in a society like ours? And yet food banks in our network tell us this is only set to get worse as their communities are pushed deeper into financial hardship. No one’s income should fall so dangerously low that they cannot afford to stay fed, warm and dry.”

Amanda added: “To work over 40 hours a week and coming home and being absolutely exhausted and still not having enough to pay your bills is shocking.

“This is why it’s so important to help. We have been blown away by the kindness of the community. There are so many local businesses in Accrington that are struggling at the minute but if communities are supporting one another, we can get through these hard times together.”