AFTER using her loaf to complete a degree in politics and training to be a lawyer, Mandy Richardson struggled to find a job.

But a temping contract with Hyndburn Council led to a 20-year career in policy departments of various local authorities, including Pendle.

She joined Burnley Council as a neighbourhood manager, on the front line between residents and managers in some of the borough’s most deprived areas.

Five years on and the Government’s spending cuts on public services came in, and in March last year her whole department was made redundant.

Less than a year later, she has established herself as artisan baker The Bread Fairy, selling healthy loaves at farmers’ markets in East Lancashire.

“I was distraught, devastated, and felt let down by the public sector having worked so hard for such a long time,” the mum-of-two from Whalley said.

“But I just thought ‘You know what, I’m 43 and this is my time to do something completely different and I’ll never get that opportunity again.”

Inspired by a cook book by The Real Bread Company, which she was given for Christmas, Mandy turned her hand to baking — something she had only dabbled in a few years earlier when she had become wheat intolerant and learned how to bake spelt bread.

She had ‘one of those light bulb moments’ and signed up for a four-day bakery course, and by the time she left the council at the end of March she had already sold at her first farmers’ market.

“I was a wreck; my oven had packed up at 1am that morning and I think I was sobbing in a corner when my friend arrived to help me — and she forced me to go,” Mandy said.

“The name was a bit of a joke really; I was testing bread on my friends and one of them wasn’t in so I left it in a basket with the note ‘Tell me what you think, The Bread Fairy’.”

Working from her converted utility room, Mandy now attends three Sunday farmers’ markets a month, at Browsholme Tithe Barn near Clitheroe, Towneley and Longridge.

Her speciality doughs take anything from 16 to 24 hours from mixing to baking, significantly more than the 90-minute process for store-baked batches.

Mandy admits The Bread Fairy is at full capacity due to the lengthy process but she hopes to expand in the near future with baking classes at schools and retail supplies in her sights.

“Believe it or not, a lot of the skills I used in my past jobs are transferable,” she said.

“At the end of the day, I am getting a product right that someone wants and my old job was making sure people were happy with council services — it’s just on a smaller scale now.

“It has been a real journey, and I would say to people the cuts haven’t stopped but think of it as an opportunity to think outside the box.

“Looking back, I was tired, drained and my batteries were worn down as we were working in areas of real deprivation and were struggling to influence the council.

“It’s such a buzz to be out selling and for someone to eat something, smile and say ‘that’s delicious.’ People don’t come and say thank you for emptying my bin.”