A STALL holder at Barrow Indoor Market has been finding ways to adapt to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Julie Usher, 57, owner of All That Glitters, has spent the last decade bringing joy to customers with personalised goods, but in the most challenging year to date she has had to find new ways to adapt.

The business started small with handmade cards and glittered wine and gin glasses.

“I’ve done crafting for a long time so when my two boys moved out I had a spare room which became a craft room and more machines came,” she said.

“I always wanted to open a stall because I was a manager at Paper Tree for a long time and I loved it. And then I went into Debenhams as a department manager there, so I’ve always been in retail.

“I work at the hospital for 10 hours a week and one week I decided to show some of the glitter glasses off, and I ended up making around 94 in three weeks. I kept going to work at the hospital with glitter on my face - and that’s where the All That Glitters name came from.”

As well as producing hand-made crafts, Julie plans weddings, christenings and baby showers, but with covid restrictions in place she has only been able to assist in a few small weddings.

With the second national lockdown now in place, Julie has been overwhelmed with the community's support. Before the restrictions were introduced on Thursday, shoppers flocked to the indoor market to support stall owners who have been forced to close.

She said: “On the last day of the market it was lovely. Everyone said that they wanted to buy local.

“Wednesday was quite busy but Monday was unreal. I had a lot of people panicking that had ordered from me but I said don’t worry - I will get it to you, and hopefully we will be back on December 2.”

You can support Julie by visiting her Facebook page and placing an order online where she is able to offer a click and collect service.

She said: “The number one perk to consider, for obvious reasons, is that supporting local businesses means that you care about the community that you live in. You’ll be able to put money back into your community and the other people who call it home too.

“I make hand-crafted products that are personalised and you can bet that I have given it love, sweat and sometimes tears.”

Visit All That Glitters on Facebook to find out more: https://www.facebook.com/allthatglittersj