One in a MILLION!
This week, we’re celebrating the smart innovation of Katie Bell, 30, from Norfolk. She said…
Searching through the crowds in the shopping centre, I instantly spotted who I was looking for. Noticing a green rucksack, I found my mum Christine, 60.
‘Wearing it again, are we?’ I said, pointing at the backpack.
Creating my Strathmore backpack back in 2017, Mum always took it on holiday or to the shops.
Although Mum still doesn’t know that she was the main reason I created it.
Around 10 years ago, Mum went shopping at The Galleria, a nearby shopping outlet.
That day, I received a terrifying text.
My purse has been stolen, it read.
I panicked, wondering if Mum had been hurt. But thankfully, Mum was safe and sound.
Reporting the incident to the police, CCTV showed that while Mum was sat in a coffee shop, her handbag under her chair, thieves had used a hooking device to steal her purse.
Instantly, Mum froze her card and contacted her bank.
She’d had some cash in her purse, but luckily, it wasn’t much. In true Mum style, she didn’t let it get her down.
But I never forgot that horrible incident.
It played on my mind that every day, other people had their belongings stolen.
What if I could do something to stop this from happening again? I thought.
And years later in 2015, the perfect idea struck me.
Putting pen to paper, I sketched a backpack with a secret zipped pocket.
That way, the wearer could hide their valuable items while on the go.
Working as a fashion assistant at the time, I was buzzing with new designs.
‘It’s a genius idea!’ my dad Keith, 62, said. Working in manufacturing himself, Dad helped me develop my design.
And in 2017, the Strathmore backpack was born. Knowing that I was helping people to feel safe meant the world to me.
And when Mum became my biggest fan, wearing the backpack constantly, it was a full circle moment.
While she still doesn’t know that her experience inspired my design, I’m planning on breaking the news to her soon.
Now, my mission is to make the backpacks in lots of colours – they can be a fashion staple as well as a safety net.
But more than anything, I want to make even more people feel safe on the streets.
I don’t want anyone to feel like Mum did that day.
So, let’s give the thieves a taste of their own medicine!
● Prices from £32. To buy, please visit: katherena.com
I never forgot that awful incident