A single mum who lost her job following the Covid-19 outbreak has shared her story of positivity.

Leanne Somerville, of Ajax Road, Rochester , has launched L&A Cleaning.

For the first 13 years of her working life, Leanne was a customer service manager before taking voluntary redundancy to spend more time with her children.

After a year off, the 37 year old landed a job with Mann Countrywide as an administrative assistant working during school hours.

However, due to the pandemic the company had to let her go with no chance of furlough arrangements as she had only been employed for a short period of time.

She said: "I was so upset and had to turn to benefits, I had sleepless nights wondering how I would find a role like this again.

"But it inspired me think out of the box as everyone is going through something in this pandemic, and normality is a thing of the past."

She added: "This was when I decided I would have to do something myself to be able to keep my promise to my children that I'd be around more.

"So L&A Cleaners launched in August and I haven't looked back since.

Leanne aims to support other local businesses by outsourcing accountancy work.

"My week is filled with clients already and I am hoping in the future to take on people and build the business as big as I can.

"I want to give something back to the community by employing other mums and dads who need school hours."

The main driving force behind the business venture was to give her more time to spend with her children Sonny, 12, Georgia, nine, Freddie, seven, and Izzy, six.

She said: "When my kids were younger they went to nursery, came home and went to bed so I always knew they were safe.

"But as they are getting older you need to be at home all the time just to know where they are."

Her next step is to branch out into corporate cleaning and hopes to take on more staff while building her brand.

Last week, we reported how a Walderslade man has started his own fence art business following redundancy.

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