A picture is louder than words Local artist Allie Whelan is supporting Market Harborough’s independent businesses
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LLIE WHELAN HAS always loved painting, even as a child but then decided to do a ‘real’ degree in history and pursue a business career. She still carried on taking commissions whilst a student and then dived in to the world of work. She headed to London and became a recruitment consultant. Four years later she had set up on her own and moved with her family to Market Harborough; that was over 20 years ago. ‘We chose Market Harborough because it was halfway between both our families who are in Lincoln and Leeds. And we loved the town. It’s a small market town with a great vibe; people are friendly and welcoming, it was the perfect place to put roots down and raise a family.’ Four children later Allie was still painting, ‘it’s my retreat,’ managing up to five commissions a year as well as running a successful business and enjoying living in Market Harborough. As a business owner and resident she’d got to know many of the independent retailers and life was going well. Then in 2019 she was diagnosed with cancer. ‘I was one of the lucky ones,’ says Allie. ‘I was diagnosed before the pandemic and treated so was already in the system.’ Her diagnosis made her think though and she started to realise there was more to life than living a highly stressful, albeit successful one; it was time to slow down. ‘I turned more to art and used it as a therapy to grow a ‘new me’ allowing myself more time. I was receiving more and more commissions so concentrated on my painting whilst also recovering. And then Covid hit and my business really struggled. I was still receiving treatment and spent a lot of time walking my dogs in Welland Park. It was an absolute lifeline for many of us. I was having to shield early on so it was a tranquil, safe place to get outside and
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enjoy some fresh air and exercise. Many of us in the town were using it as our safe haven.’ Allie recovered but her illness had made her think, as did Covid. ‘I decided to take a step back from the business and concentrate on my painting. I was so pleased with people’s reactions to my paintings when I delivered them. I was making people happy, which has always been my aim, business-wise as well. This gave me confidence to push on with taking more commissions.’ Allie has always been a runner and last year decided to run a marathon to celebrate her recovery. Slightly ambitious possibly and she damaged her achilles heel whilst doing it, but she managed it. Whilst recovering from her injury she spent more time in the town talking to the local business owners and en oying coffees in some of the local coffee shops. got chatting to the owners and asked them about trade which, disappointingly, was poor. Many small independent businesses were really struggling. It was heartbreaking as many of these businesses are run by Market Harborough families, many for generations, and if we weren’t careful we would lose them. ‘I’m a business woman at heart so set my mind to thinking about what I could do to help. I live in a fabulous place. Market Harborough is a wonderful market town with a lot to shout about and the local businesses needed some love. We needed to attract people into the town to spend money locally and support the local independents who desperately needed this support.’ ‘I had already painted the Café in the Park as their takeaway drinks had been a lifeline throughout the lockdowns for many of us. We were able to come and grab a coffee and meet up at a social distance and it had made such a difference to many of us, it was a bit of a life saver. And I wanted to thank them so painted the café. It got me thinking. If
August 2021 / theactivemag.com
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