Up Close is an interview series for Biddulph Nub News, talking to local people about their businesses, hobbies, or anything else they want to chat about!

In the latest instalment of Up Close we spoke to Biddulph's Andrea Day about her face masks business, Funky Masks.

Andrea started the business in May after learning to sew at the local scrub hub, and joined forces with her mum and sister to make masks for friends and family.

As the business grew, Andrea, who is a keen singer herself, launched a mask specially designed for singers, selling nearly 2,000 of them to customers all over the world.

She now has a team of 10 people working for the business, with five of them being from Biddulph.

Read the interview below...

You mentioned you learned to sew at the local scrub hub. Could you tell me a bit more about what this is and the skills you picked up?

"I learnt to properly use my sewing machine that I had had for years to help with the effort of making scrubs for the NHS at the start of the lockdown. My Mum, Lynn was a midwife before she retired so I knew how hard NHS staff work and I couldn't bear thinking that they didn't have the right clothing for their vital work. I started by teaching myself with online tutorials for headbands used to help with the sores that the staff were getting on their ears from wearing their masks all day.

"From there I progressed to scrub caps and then to full sets of scrubs and donated them to the Scrubs for Staff scrub hub. At this point my Mum (Wales) and my sister, Katherine (Rochdale) were also making scrubs too and between us we made over 100 sets.

"After that demand dropped, we all found ourselves making masks for friends and family, so I decided to set up Funky Masks, so that we could sell them online as we knew that the demand for them would grow. I was thrilled when the orders came in and we even had a stall at the first 2020 Biddulph Market."

Do you now work on Funky Masks full time?

"I still work full time as an Operations Manager alongside my work for Funky Masks, Mum is a retired Midwife and Katherine works in a school."

What made you want to move on to masks? Did you see the demand for them growing during the pandemic?

"All our job roles are classed as "Key worker" roles, so we knew that masks were going to be important for us individually, but also for everyone else. We wanted to make them washable and reusable to help stop there being lots of used disposable masks going into landfill or the oceans. We also knew that they would be around for some time, so wanted to make them fun too with great prints and designs to make it all a little easier and more fun for everyone to wear them."

Was it exciting to see your new business grow? How did it feel to set up the website and see orders coming in?

"It was really exciting to see the business grow; at first it was lovely seeing names of people we knew making purchases, and then even more exciting to see names that I didn't recognise from places all over the country as the word about Funky Masks grew. Now we are shipping all over the world and have orders from places like Finland, Spain, France, Ireland, USA and even Australia."

You also mentioned that you're a singer. Could you tell me a bit more about this and your singing mask? How is the singing mask better for singing than a regular mask?

"Our most popular design came about as myself and Mum are both regular singers and I knew that choirs were desperate to get back singing. So we wanted to help and launched our "singer's mask". This has space at the front of it where the fabric is held away from your mouth. It's ideal to sing in, as you can make all your regular mouth shapes and take deep breaths without the fabric touching your face.

"Up to now, we have sold over 2,000 of these and not just to singers. People with anxiety, dementia, claustrophobia, asthma and other breathing issues have also found them useful."

The pandemic has had a negative effect on many people's lives, but you have been able to provide work for people through your business. Do you see this as a bit of a silver lining?

"I'm absolutely thrilled that I have been able to provide work for others through the success of Funky Masks. We are now a team of 10 self employed, home workers who have many different backgrounds; some were furloughed, some were shielding and some were working part time.

"We are all in a difficult situation right now, but I really hope that being able to put smiles on peoples faces with the designs that we make, helping people get back to the activities that they love and support local jobs are some small positives."

What are your plans for the future? Do you have any new designs coming out or plans to expand further?

"We are looking to add a clear fronted mask to our range which would be ideal for those who need to lip read and perfect for choir directors to use in front of their groups. We always have new and seasonal fabric designs for our standard masks too, so we will be launching our Christmas designs over the next few weeks."

How long have you lived in Biddulph and what do you think of the place?

"I've only lived in Biddulph for just over two years but I really love living here. It's fantastic to have such great access to the countryside and we have the benefit of the lovely high street too."

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

"We also make standard masks where the elastic goes around the back of the head rather than over the ears. We find these are much more suitable for those who wear hearing aids, wear glasses or have other ear issues.

"We also make matching handy washable bags for the masks which are great for popping in your handbag for keeping them clean and also protecting them in the washing machine, and we have made many logoed masks for business and for choirs.

"We have a range of charity masks too where we have raised over £400 for charities like the Poppy Appeal, LBGT+ charities and funds to support those who have been negatively affected financially by the pandemic."

To visit the Funky Masks website, click here. You can also find Funky Masks on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Have you got a hobby, business or interest you want to promote? Let us know and we would love to interview you about it! Just message us on Facebook or email [email protected]