Hobby became a job when illness struck (From Worcester News)

Hobby became a job when illness struck

3:10pm Monday 23rd August 2010 in

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A WOMAN who took up crafts after finding out she was suffering from a rare neurological disease has transformed her hobby into a flourishing business.

Joni Davies started making her own cards and selling them at craft fairs when she was told she had Charcot Marie Tooth (CMT) disease.

The 24-year-old said she wanted to be positive and concentrate on what she could do, rather than dwell on the degenerative condition, which causes nerve pain and fatigue.

She said: “I get exhausted. Every day I’m just really fatigued. I’m aching all the time. It affects your hands and feet and then you can get so you don’t walk very well.”

But she said: “I don’t want to just sit at home and cry about it. There’s no point.”

As well as the craft fairs, she started working at a Worcester gift shop called Naturally Gifted, which has since closed.

She said: “It was really hard for me to do a proper job. I was on statutory sick pay for a long time and then I had to stop that and go on to benefits.

“I really wanted to work but they would only let me earn £20 a week. After a year, they wrote me a letter and said I had to go full-time or stop.”

Miss Davies did voluntary work at the shop for six months before deciding to become self-employed.

In May this year, she set up a shop at 47b Upper Tything which she called Bluebell’s – her middle name – selling her cards as well as gifts, crafts and jewellery made by 23 local artists and craftspeople.

She now works full-time in the business, which went ahead partly thanks to funding from the Prince’s Trust. She said: “I had to write a business plan and do it all within a week.

She said: “I had to work hard to convince them it was a good idea. They loaned me £3,000 and I used that money to set up and decorate the shop. It’s a very small front but it’s like a Tardis when you come in. It’s just a really nice unique boutique.”

She has plans to hold an official opening this autumn after holding a competition involving art students from RGS Worcester.