Blackpool scrunchies fly the flag to support Ukraine

Jessie Crook and her mum Kirsty started their business, That Scrunchie Brand, in February last year as something to keep them creative and busy during lockdown.

The colourful scrunchies caught on and, after Fylde coast celebrities Lucy Fallon and Rae Morris shared their Instagram posts, business has grown steadily ever since.

Jessie, who went to Montgomery and Blackpool Sixth form said they started selling on Instagram then moved on to use the crafters’ website Etsy as their main platform.

She said: “I do the social media, marketing and sales and mum does the making. We were going steadily but then got a few online shares from Lucy and Rae and others and sales grew. We are trying to keep it as sustainable as possible so we use fabrics that are all seconds or end of line. They are all pretty exclusive too as we buy enough to make 20 and when they are gone they are gone!

Jessie said: “After a lot of thinking about how we could raise money for the people affected by the war, we came up with the idea of using our scrunchie business. We made our silk scrunchies in blue and yellow, for the Ukranian flag, with all money made donated directly to Unicef which has a dedicated page on its website, allowing us to donate directly to families in need in Ukraine.

"The scrunchies went online on Monday and they sold out straight away. We have around £150 and all proceeds go to Unicef.”