By Amelia Tipper

A woman made redundant during the first Covid lockdown called it a ‘blessing in disguise’ as it allowed her to kickstart her own business baking cakes, stating it was ‘perfect timing’.

Abigail Morris, 21, from Abercynon, was one of the thousands of people who lost their job as a result of the first national lockdown. With bills to pay and a wedding to plan she could see no end in sight to the financial difficulties she was left to face with.

Until she decided to put her lifelong hobby of baking to good use.

“It started off as just baking cupcakes for family and friends to cheer them up throughout this hard time, it was only after people started mentioning I should charge for them that the idea came to mind,” says Abigail.

She added: “I always loved baking in my spare time so why not make it a business?

“That’s exactly what I did. After worrying for weeks about financial stability, especially with our wedding next year, it’s been the perfect timing to become my own boss.

“Days later I created social media pages to promote the cakes and have been very successful particularly on celebratory occasions such as Valentine’s Day and Father’s Day.”

Aside from earning a living from the business, Abigail has also actively participated in charitable work raising over £200 for Alzheimer’s research by running at home cake sales, alongside donating cakes to the NHS staff working in Ysbyty Cwm Cynon, Mountain Ash.

In the run up to Mother’s Day, Abigail will be keeping busy with 88 cupcakes and 18 sponge cakes already pre-ordered for collection.

“My fiancé supports me and helps as much as he can, I’m so proud of what I have accomplished in such a short time. I like to look back to my first cake and see how far I’ve come and it’s only the beginning,” Abigail says.

She adds: “I’ve been able to expand my menu by adding different flavours of brownies and blondies which have become a big hit on my social media. I just hope I can keep expanding and continue to attract more customers.

“I never thought I’d say it but I’m almost thankful for the redundancy, as without it none of this would have become a reality.”

Follow Abigail’s baking business on Instagram: @sunshinabakesbyabi