SOAP STAR’S KIND GESTURE
Donations to foodbank
A young east Perthshire business owner has donated some of her hand-crafted soap to the Perth and Kinross Foodbank.
Amelia Milton (11) from Bridge of Cally has been hard at work keeping up with deliveries for her Smelleez range of soap bars, but any near-perfect products that “don’t go to plan” are donated to the team at the region’s lifeline service based in Perth’s Cutlog Vennel.
The great-smelling soaps have been finding their way into the parcels distributed to those in need.
Perth and Kinross Foodbank coordinator Eleanor Kelleher thanked Amelia for her generous donations.
She said: “Amelia has been donating her soaps to us for a few years now and we always greatly appreciate it.
“She tends to donate two or three times a year and the soaps are a great treat, especially at Christmas.
“Prior to Covid-19, it was a little unusual to receive a bar of soap in a parcel, especially a beautifully handmade one.
“In the last 15 months we have been making it a priority to include soap and other cleaning products in as many parcels as possible, so her donations have been more welcome than ever.”
Smelleez began nearly four years ago when Amelia was only eight years old.
Her favourite soap at the moment is peppercorn and raspberry.
And there is work going on to make a new range of eco-friendly shampoo bars.
Amelia said she and her mum Margaret Crombie are getting close to the final cosmetic testing of the new product.
The young entrepreneur has also been a speaker at Coupar Angus-based GrowBiz, telling others how she has expanded from kitchen table experiments to having “an ethical, small-batch brand that is going places”.
Smelleez was part of the Perthshire Christmas Design Market and, dressed up as an elf, Amelia made a video promoting her new soap fragrance, the festively named Elf Sweat – which smells mainly of candy canes and jelly beans.
Smelleez’s social media increasingly features Perthshire through Amelia’s eyes.
She has also become adept at taking her own product shots, thanks to a link with Blairgowrie-based photographer Kelly McIntyre.
In exchange for soap, Kelly gave Amelia a project table which allows the youngster to set up pictures of her toiletries to share online.
And when the pandemic hit, Amelia was not stuck for things to do.
She got a website and online shop up and running and was constantly posting out soap parcels from nearby Bridge of Cally Post Office.
As restrictions ease, mum and daughter are often on the road attending events such as the Blair Castle Summer Craft Fair which took place at the weekend.
Amelia said: “I have a making session on Mondays, I do wrapping on Tuesdays and then other days we go out making deliveries.
“I can make them every colour of the rainbow and I love coming up with new ways to make them smell nice.”
On Thursday last week, Amelia also went to Glendoick Garden Centre as she had her first delivery to the gift shop there.
Glendoick owner Jane Cox said Amelia’s handmade items were a great addition to the shop and she was delighted to support an independent local business, particularly one run by someone of such a young age.