Nine-year-old entrepreneur’s lemonade stand raises over £250 for hospice charity

Georgie Howell, 9, recently made £258 from a sale outside her home in Bourton near Much Wenlock, which included homemade lemonade and cakes.

Georgie's mum, Annabel Howell, said entrepreneurial inspiration struck during a game of shops over the summer holidays.

The ambitions for the lemonade stand the youngster had originally envisioned grew over the weeks, and by the time she set up shop on a Sunday in August, the store included homemade bookmarks, bracelets, dog treats, sweet cones and bric-a-brac.

Annabel said: "She was so excited, she put everything into it. Bourton is only a tiny village, but she'd made posters and flyers to deliver round to all the neighbours.

"We had lots of friends and family come down to support her on the day too.

"We were amazed at how much she raised, she did fantastically. The money in the pot was going up and up and she was so proud."

After catching the entrepreneurial bug, Georgie is planning on starting a dog-walking business when she's a little older. In the meantime, plans are already in the works for next summer's fundraising sale.

Philip Haigh, community fundraiser at Severn Hospice, said: "Georgie’s an absolute star! She came to visit the hospice earlier this week to tell us about her fundraiser, and we are just so amazed by her kindness and generosity. It's truly inspiring to see someone so young be so committed to supporting a local charity like ours.

"All the funds donated to Severn Hospice go towards an important cause. While our care is completely free to our patients and their families, it does come at a cost. For every £3 we spend on care, we need to raise £2 – so we are incredibly grateful to our super supporter, Georgie!"