Stafford woman sews face masks to raise money for food bank

A woman is making face masks to protect people during the coronavirus outbreak while raising money for a food bank.

27 May 2020, 05:00 by Jamie Brassington

Becky Armstrong, 40, of Stafford, is raising money for House of Bread by hand-crafting the masks from cloth.

So far she has raised more than £1,000 for the charity by sewing together more than 200 face masks.

She said: "I started making masks for myself and I had people in the street asking where did I get them from.

"I decided to set up a donation page. I think food banks like that need help because people are not going shopping as much."

To begin with, the crafting process took Becky "quite a long time" to make just one face mask, she said.

But now she can make between "20 to 30 if I put my mind to it", she added.

"I have got lots of people waiting for a mask now," she said. "I had to stop taking orders, there was so many.

"I have got lots ready to go out".

Becky has a a colourful array of fabric she can use to make the face masks.

There is no set price on the face masks but Becky is just asking for donations.

Some of the generous amounts have surprised her.

"It has been amazing how generous some people are," she said.

"Someone in Australia donated £50. I think that is the furthest that I have sent the face masks.

"But I have sent some to London, Scotland and Bognor Regis. It's mainly been through word of mouth."

Becky's fundraising initiative is called Sewing For Facebook.

She has a Facebook page alongside an online fundraising platform.

To donate and order a face mask, visit her fundraising page at localgiving.org.

To visit her Facebook page, go to facebook.com/sewingforfood.