Mother’s Day: Grieving daughter opens Annie Jude's shop in Hillsborough, Sheffield, to keep mum's memory alive

Faith Nicholson, of Hillsborough, said her mum, Judith Ann Baxter, 65, passed away on April 12 last year, three months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Despite still coming to terms with the loss, the mum-of-two successfully managed to open a shop called Annie Jude's on Middlewood Road last December, as a tribute to her late mum.

The 34-year-old said: "It (the death) was really shocking. She was a very healthy and very capable lady.

"Most people with pancreatic cancer don't get diagnosed until it is too late so my mum hardly had any symptoms.

"Eventually she did the scan, but there was nothing we could do and she went downhill very quickly and started having strokes before her death.

"Before she passed away, she'd given all of us (siblings) some money and told me to start my own business because she knew I always wanted to do that.

"After she passed, I just really needed something positive to focus on so I decided, why not start doing this."

Fantastic community support

Faith said the shop, which is named after her mum, sells a variety of items ranging from jewellery, clothing, and souvenirs to children's clothing made by small entrepreneurs from across the city and beyond.

She explained: "I started my small business during lockdown selling cross stitch on Instagram and that took off quite well.

"That's how I met amazingly talented people that just make things in their house and sell them and that sort of blew me away seeing how many amazing people out there doing what they do during lockdown.

"So the idea was to build a shop using the stuff from all the people that I met online and sell their lovely things.

"I found a place in Hillsborough mid December last year and managed to get it open without electricity or heating. It was hard but I managed."

Faith said the local community's support has been fantastic, and the shop has become a welcome addition.

She said: “Hillsborough is just thriving and the community are so loving and supportive. It’s been rewarding.”

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First Mother’s Day without her mum

Faith, who previously worked in the NHS, said the shop also has a wall dedicated to her mum, with a picture of her hanging in pride.

She said: "I got a little wall in the shop dedicated to her, a beautiful picture that has her in the centre and the sort of things she loved around it.

"I love people asking me about that. I'm happy to talk about her all day just to keep the memory alive."

And this year's Mother's Day will be her first without her mum.

She said: "She was here last Mother's Day but she was very sick, so, not very happy memories. But I am trying to do something nice this year with my children and also remembering her although every new occasion is hard."

She also said she supports St Luke's Hospice, where her mum was treated, by making a monthly donation.

For more information about Faith’s business, please follow her Instagram page here.