THIS coming Monday sees the return of handmade craft professionals to Wellington town centre in time for Mothering Sunday and Easter.

The crafters have rented the town council’s Pop Up Shop in Fore Street for a month, hoping to repeat the huge success of their first visit before Christmas.

Business partners Jo Alway, from Cotford St Luke, and Alice Burns, of Aspin Road, Wellington, have brought together a consortium of nearly 30 crafters to trade from the shop.

Mrs Burns, who trades as Lotus Pond Creations and also has a concession in The Emporium, Mantle Street, said: “We did fantastically well in the run up to Christmas with absolutely brilliant support from the people of Wellington and round and about every day we were open.

“We had just over 20 crafters then, but now, because word has spread about how good the Pop Up Shop is, we have had interest from a lot more local crafting businesses.

“We are grateful that the town council came up with the idea for the Pop Up Shop to give people like us an opportunity to have a ‘high street’ presence when we cannot afford to pay market rents for a shop of our own.

“Jo and I share a passion for supporting projects which engage with the community in which we live and bring enjoyment to local families.

“There are so many wonderful events and opportunities on offer for people who live in Wellington which Jo and I work hard to raise awareness.”

Ms Always, who runs an online business called Always Lovely, said: “We are really pleased that the Pop Up Shop idea is catching on and even more handmade crafters are joining us this time.

“As we did before, we are running a variety of initiatives to keep up the interest throughout the month and to help people who find shopping a challenge.

“For instance there is ‘shop from your sofa’, where customers can put in an order via our Facebook page and have it delivered to their door, ‘quiet’ shopping hours for accessibility, an Easter colouring competition, and a book swap day each week where children can come in and change a book for one of those we have in the shop.”

The Pop Up Shop consortium is the latest venture for Ms Alway and Mrs Burns, who also offer media management and design services and organisation of large and small-scale events such as the annual carnival Street Fayre and Court Fields School’s Christmas market.