Weaverham youngsters raise funds for Stroke Association

Bella and Alice Hardy put their entrepreneurial skills to the test by setting up their very own lemonade stand outside their home in Weaverham.

The girls, age seven and five, lost their grandad Brian Hardy to a stoke less than two months ago, and they wanted to give something back to the Stoke Association in his memory.

Bella and Alice’s proud mum Beth explained: "My father-in-law passed away about six weeks ago – it was on Mother’s Day.

“That was his second stroke.

Brian Hardy

“The kids wanted to raise some money for the Stroke Association and they’ve always wanted to do lemonade stand, so I said it would be nice to be able to raise money from that.”

The girls perfected their homemade lemonade recipe at home and even named it after the street where they live.

“For about a week we were making different recipes trying to get it right because it’s homemade,” Beth said.

“We must have got 60 or 70 lemons - we hand-squeezed all of them!

“We had a little stand outside our house.”

On Saturday, April 30, the lemonade stand took pride of place outside the family’s home, raising £314.85.

Bella and Alice Hardy

It was such a success that Bella and Alice decided to try and raise more funds, and they manned their stand again on Sunday, May 1. 

In total, Bella and Alice’s efforts raised £501.50 for the Stroke Association.

“People were putting in more than they were buying,” Beth said.

“We had people queueing down the road.

“Bella and Alice were shouting down the street, ‘get your lemonade!’.

“One hundred per cent of the money we raised has gone to the Stroke Association and the kids are so happy they raised so much money.

“We put a post on the Weaverham Facebook page and we had lots of people from our community pop down and support us.”