Aged 15 in 1979, mum died of cancer.  I felt like my whole world had come crashing down.  Although I was a very shy child, this made me recoil even further and I grew up very unconfident.  Not knowing what I wanted to do in life, I went to secretarial college, thinking at least it was a start.  I did my two years, got my qualifications and worked for 17 years doing secretarial jobs. At 33, I was married and after the birth of my first child, I decided not to go back to work and be a stay at home mum.  I remembered how my mum taught me to cook and the very first cake she taught me was a Victoria sponge.  Thinking of this and how I loved to cook, I decided to set up my own catering business, working from home so it fitted in with the family. 

Now with two boys, it was the perfect job, they even helped as they got older. I catered for 23 years running Primrose Fayre and loved every minute of it, even winning a few awards.  At the Kent Women in Business Awards in 2015, I won Mumpreneur of the Year and in 2017, I won Inspirational Achievement Award at the Independent Business Awards Kent which was completely inspired by my mum, and was the most special award ever.  I almost felt her standing on the stage with me.  Then in 2021, I won Home Based Business of the Year in the Kent Women in Business Awards.  To go from a very introverted girl to winning 3 awards, just shows that all that time and dedication mum showed me has paid off.  Thanks mum x

December 2019 was 40 years since my lovely mum passed away and I wanted to mark the occasion, so the first childrens story/recipe book Cherry Bakewell - Stories from my Kitchen was created in her memory and 10% of royalties from the book will go to Cancer Research UK.  Some of the stories are based on the memories we had together, I've even included our dog!  It was a really cathartic experience writing it, bringing back so many recollection and having decided there will be a series of six, there are many more stories to come.

It's my mission to influence and encourage children to get in the kitchen and have a go!  Cooking is a vital life skill and I want to instil the knowledge my mum gave me, into other children.  Cooking should be fun, so I've made the books interactive.  They can follow the recipes themselves once they've read the chapter.  My inspiration throughout life has been my mum, and although our time together was all too short, the memories are still there and some of them are now relived in my books and I am so proud to be able to share my stories and these books with you.

On 9th May 2022, I changed the name of my business from Primrose Fayre to Cherry Bakewell World, incorporating my books, Cherry Bakewell - Stories from my Kitchen and Cherry Bakewell - Winter Fun.  I have also set up some childrens story writing workshops, which I will be taking to schools and local groups.