A CHILDREN’S party venue is in need of a fairy godmother as the business owner fears not being able to get vital grants.

Lorraine Dumbrell runs the Petite Fairytale Boutique in Worthing, which stages magical makeovers and birthday events.

But the coronavirus lockdown hit as it was in the middle of moving into a bigger venue in the town centre.

So it has left Lorraine unable to access the grants she needs to keep the business afloat as she first has to register at a new address.

Instead though, she is trying to keep some of the magic alive by providing special birthday wishes from her fairies to children on Facebook.

She said: “We had to close probably a week before the lockdown, people were cancelling parties anyway.

“To make matters worse, we were due to close our current shop and reopen in a bigger premises.

“The shutdown hit us right in the middle of the transfer across. So my business is in limbo basically.

“I have filled out all the forms for business rate relief, but I need the business to first be registered at an address and they must be swamped with dealing with all the applications for grants and everything.

“So I cannot access the grants until I am registered. I have no idea what is going to happen.

“When we move in it couldn’t be worse, as we will have no money at all to get it off the ground.”

Lorraine set up the business three years ago and was based in Chapel Road, Worthing.

It followed running her own mobile party business, but she decided having her own premises would allow her to host birthday parties and makeover days so children could enjoy a magical fairytale experience.

She said: “After four or five years, I could never make any venue quite pretty enough, so having my own venue was always my dream.

“Most places wanted to do a princess theme, but I chose fairies as it is a little bit different.

“Children walk in, and can now believe they are in a fairytale. We make things as magical as they can get.”

Now Lorraine has launched the online services for customers and as a way of reaching out to the community.

She said: “For children expecting birthdays during lockdown, things are a bit rubbish, and we had lots of requests to try to make things a bit more magical.

“Now we are certainly being kept busy with all the requests.

“It includes sending other family members messages of love, as many families are apart, and many key workers are still being kept busy and are not able to see their children as much.

“The messages from the fairies have been wonderful. The children and adults have loved them, they were unexpected and it has really cheered them up.”

Other ideas Lorraine has organised has included live videos of storytelling, which children can watch online.

She said: “It is a really fun way of keeping in contact with your customers. We have set up the backdrop and done live story-time sessions.

“The feedback from parents has been really good. It is something different for the children.”

Petite Fairytale Boutique is still set to move in to premises in Warwick Road after the lockdown.

Lorraine said: “It felt like the right time, I could add a few things to make everything perfect, but then the lockdown happened.

“When this is all over, it would be nice to do a big reveal and have a big opening party.

“But I think at first, when the lockdown is over, people will be a bit cautious about booking parties and gatherings.

“We just hope they will come and see us.”

To find out more about the business search for Petite Fairytale Boutique on Facebook or email info@petitefairytaleboutique.co.uk.

  • At The Argus, we are championing the work of traders during the coronavirus pandemic as part of our #BackingSussexBusiness campaign. We are always interested to hear how the community is coming together in this crisis. If you know of a local business battling to do all it can in these tough times and/or offering support to the local community, please get in touch at laurie.churchman@theargus.co.uk and rose.lock@theargus.co.uk.