Megan’s big move up north is starting to pay off now

A MOVE to Yorkshire proved to be a lifechanging experience for a young artist Meghan Earle.

She had given up hope of making a living from her passion for doodling which began when she was still at school.

Meghan, who lives in Dalton, made the decision to escape high rents and living costs in the south east to make a new home for herself in Huddersfield and finally realise her dream to launch a business designing commissioned pen and ink drawings.

The 28-year-old had been holding down four jobs in Sussex just to keep a roof over her head.

As well as working full-time in family support with social services, she worked as a singer in care homes, delivered for a Chinese takeaway and attended craft fairs with her artwork to make ends meet.

Now she has an office, a business mentor and her own website.

Meghan said she fell in love with Huddersfield as a teenager and it was a place she was naturally drawn to when she was looking for somewhere to settle and start a business.

“I’d been coming to youth camp here since the age of 11 and loved that it was a big town in the middle of the beautiful countryside,” she recalled.

“I had made some good friends in Huddersfield but it was still a really tough decision to leave my family and job, even though I was glad to escape city life and knew that despite having a degree and a career, I’d never be able to afford to set up a business down south,” she explained.

When social services made cutbacks and her job was under threat she decided it was now or never and moved up to stay with a family she’d got to know during her frequent visits to Yorkshire.

“I started working at a care home and then I was introduced to a local entrepreneur, Gareth Henderson, at the Huddersfield Elim Church who encouraged me to follow my dream and set up my own business.

“He helped me to believe in myself and set up in an office at the business incubator centre in Independence House, which he established especially for businesses like mine,” she said.

Meghan is now developing a range of handdrawn designs for giftware, wedding stationery and cards as well as taking personal commissions.

“Becoming self-employed has been a steep learning curve and there is so much more to learn but I’m overwhelmed by how supportive people in Huddersfield have been and without that warmth – and the lower cost of living – there is no way I could have got this far.”