OUR BAKING BUSINESSES

‘I’ve won awards for my brownies’

Former health visitor Lynsey Bleakley, 45, lives near Bangor in Co Down, with her husband James, 43, and daughter Yazmin, 20, along with three Labradors and a cat. She left her 18-year career in the NHS to launch Bumble & Goose, a baking business delivering luxury brownies and personalised biscuits across the UK and Ireland.

THE IDEA

I had worked for the NHS for almost 18 years. But after struggling to conceive, my husband and I suffered four miscarriages between 2015 and 2017. Along with the grief of losing my babies, I suffered from complications that had a huge impact on my health, both physically and emotionally. I started having CBT therapy and my therapist suggested a hobby to occupy my anxious mind – so I began to bake.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT

I found it such a huge relief that something distracted me from the grief and