Supermums Honoured by Ely Crafters

EIGHT amazing supermums, grans and carers will be honoured in a special ceremony in Ely this month.
The Mother’s Day competition, run by Handmade in Ely and Spotted in Ely, aimed to discover women who had gone the extra mile.
The winners included women who had overcome major adversary, illness or other hardship to help others in their communities. The competition was judged by Ely mums Jenny Hughes and Tali Iserles, of the Handmade in Ely Facebook group.
Tali said: “In the past we’ve run Random Acts of Kindness in Ely and we wanted to expand on that by finding some unsung heroes to reward in time for Mother’s Day. “Some of these women’s selfless stories just blew us away. Their incredible courage, strength and goodwill is a massive inspiration to everyone. “Reading some of the nominations left a lump in my throat. The hardest part was choosing just eight winners – the quality of the nominations was outstanding.”
The winners will receive handmade goodies by local crafters at a special ceremony in Ely on March 14.
Jeanette Biggadike, nominated by daughter Jemma Biggadike, has won a padded notice board from Serendipities. Christine Skipper, nominated by daughter Lucy Skipper, has won a one of a kind necklace from Tallulah does the Hula.
Kathy Westley, nominated by daughter Debbie, has won a prize package and voucher from Needle Doodles.
Christine Thomas, nominated by daughter Kellie Ireland, has won a handmade clutch bag from Sew Vintage Modern. Kellie wrote: “My husband and I moved here in 2012 to be nearer my parents, as my husband is a serving soldier it means him being away a lot.” Christine starts her day at 3am, finishing her shift so that she can be home at 9.30am to help out with her grandchildren, aged 22 months and four. Kellie said: “When my husband went to Afghanistan in 2013 when Poppy was just 11 weeks old I couldn’t have been more supported by my mum. It was very hard being at home alone for all those months yet we felt safe knowing that we had Mum/Nanny. “She made us picnics to have in the garden, we did gardening and planting, she grew the kids peas to snack on and cherry tomatoes… I would love to show my mum how much we all love her by winning something for her. She is one in a million.”
Another winner, Patricia Richardson, nominated by daughter Debbie Walker, will receive a nautical cushion from The Little Gift Shop. Carole Hart, nominated by future daughter-in-law Nadia Brasher, has won a limited edition print from Emma Sadler Photography.
Lauren Stapleton-Yearn, who runs Ditsy Daisy Homemade Preserves, was so touched by the stories of two supermums tied to win her “It’s a Case of Cream Tea” hamper that in the true spirit of Random Acts of Kindness, she decided to present both with prizes.
Trudy Buckingham, nominated by daughter Amie Nash, and Barbara Gould, nominated by daughter Rebecca Gould-Robinson, will receive the Ditsy Daisy prizes.
In total, Spotted in Ely received many nominations from across East Cambridgeshire. The judges were heartened by an entry from Soham youngsters Rebecca and Daisy Smith, who said mum Natalie deserved to win “because she’s a good mum who makes great chicken kievs, she makes our house our home and always has time to do our hair.”
The award ceremony will take place at Bar 62, Newnham Street in Ely on Saturday 14th March at 12:30pm and everyone is invited to attend.