Coronavirus: Birmingham mask-maker, 11, raises thousands

Lots of friends have been "roped in" to help Jo and Millie's business

A mum and daughter team who have been making and selling masks during the coronavirus lockdown have raised £10,000 for charity.

Eleven-year-old Millie Millburn, from Birmingham, made her first mask as a project while she was off school.

More than 14,000 have now been sold, raising money for the NHS and good causes.

They have proved so popular, workers have been employed and a pop-up shop set up.

More than 14,000 masks have been sold, raising thousands for charity

Wedding dress maker Jo Millburn had to close her business, based in Digbeth, when lockdown began, furloughing her four part-time workers.

"I never envisaged I would make money out of masks, it just started out as a way of keeping Millie busy," she said.

"My mum showed me how to make one and we photographed me in it and put it on Facebook," said Millie.

"Then people started to ask if we were taking orders, so we thought why not?"

Nine part-time staff are now employed to make the masks

The made-to-order masks, in multiple patterns, are for people who "want to look stylish and cool," she added.

Twenty per cent of the profit has been donated to local charities including the Queen Elizabeth Birmingham Hospital Charity and Birmingham Community Solidarity, which has been delivering food to people in need.

"About 1,600 masks have so far been donated and sent to care homes, schools and a refugee centre, among other places," said Ms Millburn.

The success of the enterprise has allowed her to bring her staff out of furlough and employ a further five part-time workers - some of whom are also donating their wages to charity.

"I'm teaching her to be an entrepreneur," said Millie's mum

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"We call them 'Millie's Magnificent Maidens.

"There have been lots of excellent outcomes, including Millie learning lots of amazing little things that she wouldn't have learned at school.

"She's learned how to make a mask, how to organise production, design characters for the website and think about customer service - as well as having lots of school work to do."

The pop-up-store is at Minerva Works, Fazeley Street, in Birmingham.