"We're giving the middle finger to burglars by creating something beautiful where they left scars"

Business owners in Hillsborough have said they are seeing more burglaries in recent months, but are determined to turn the scars of local crime into displays of hope and affection.

Faith Nicholson, owner of Annie Jude’s on Middlewood Road, said: “We have had lots of break-ins locally. It has been a real issue... We came up with the idea to do something lovely.”

Faith and other business owners in the area are fundraising for affection-filled artwork to be put on the boarded up entrances to the unused flats above their shops and venues. It was from these entrances that burglars gained entry to a Middlewood Road business, coming through a wall.

“People can pay £10 to have the name of a loved one added, alive or passed, in the mural of love,” Faith said. The project already has 30 names so far.

“It would be nice to have even more added to that,” she continued.

The mural of love, which will feature two different designs on the two different entranceways which have been boarded up. One would be a night sky and the other will have a flower garden design.

Turning negatives into a positive is something Faith is passionate about. Her business, Annie Jude’s, is a shining example.

“The main point of the shop is to turn negatives to positives,” she told The Star. “The shop opened using the money my mum left me when she passed away.

“One thing we love doing and has become part of the shop is fundraising... You see it and realise this is making a real difference to a person.”

Previously, Annie Jude’s has fundraised hundreds of pounds of Jude’s Book Factory, a charity founded by Jude Mellon-Jameson and his family before the youngster died in September 2023 after battling cancer.

Money raised from the mural of love will be donated to the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity.

Faith hopes the mural will present a hopeful, love-filled face for a community that cares, not the scars of a crimes and criminals that have unfortunately affected numerous businesses like hers.

She said: “The community of Hillsborough is lovely. We giving the middle finger to them.”