A Harpenden mum of two has raised more than £1,300 for homeless youngsters with her bespoke card designs.

Tina Gaskin-Edwards, 53, started making the cards during lockdown to raise money for Herts Young Homeless (HYH), and they have proved so successful that she has decided to continue with the project.

HYH is a local charity which believes every young person deserves a safe, warm and comfortable home, and offers support, advice and information to 16-24 year-olds facing homelessness to help them achieve the skills they need to be able to live independently.

Tina, who has two teenagers aged 16 and 13, has produced a range of card designs for all occasions, and also offers a bespoke service, where she will design a card for a particular theme/occasion for an additional 50p.

"I have been wanting to do something for the homeless for some time and made sense to support a local charity - I came up with the idea of cards during lockdown and started selling to them to friends and family and they all loved them - I enjoy making them so I have continued."

Post lockdown her local hair salon, Friends Hair Design in The Forresters, Harpenden, agreed to sell the cards to their customers.

Owner Paul Geary said: “We always like to work with local artists and support local charity. The cards are selling really well so it’s a win win!”

Tina recently presented a cheque for £1,250 to Grace Marchant, marketing manager of Herts Young Homeless.

Grace said: "We are so thankful for Tina's support and incredible fundraising with her greetings cards and spreading awareness of the work that we do. The last year has been incredibly difficult for many charities as fundraising was severely reduced due to the pandemic.

"At Herts Young Homeless, we saw a huge rise in the demand for our services over the last year as more young people became homeless. The amazing funds that Tina has already raised will help us to support more vulnerable young people at risk of being homeless - thank you!"

Friends of Herts Young Homeless also held a coffee morning at Cornellia’s coffee shop in the grounds of St Nicholas Church where the cards were for sale and more are planned for other venues in Harpenden.