Portchester group, The Litter Ladies, rally community effort to help Ukrainian mum launch mobile nail business

Antonina Ivanova, who came to the village from Ukraine last month, has kick-started a nail business called Antonina Nail Portchester, where she offers mobile pedicures and manicures to residents in Portchester and Fareham.

The idea was planted after members of The Litter Ladies were keen to integrate the 27-year-old into the community alongside her two boys, who are eight and nine, and discovered her ‘master’ talent for nail artistry could be a way for Antonia to generate her own source of income after fleeing her home country.

Co-founder of the group, Claire Turner, lives on the same street as Antonina which currently hosts two Ukrainian families.

A graphic designer by trade, Claire wanted to use the resources they had with the voluntary group to sponsor and promote her talents in the area while helping her make new friends.

Thanks to the generosity of the community in Portchester, £520 has been raised through a JustGiving page promoted by The Litter Ladies.

The cash has funded new salon equipment and allowed for Claire to design marketing materials to propel Antonina’s business.

Claire said: ‘I thought it would be really lovely to sponsor her through The Litter Ladies and campaign her talents.

‘Because of our audience, locally we were able to put out a message asking if anyone has got a bike or does anyone want their nails done.

‘She's ended up with about 15 clients so far and because she can't drive, her neighbour has donated a bike.

‘Through the litter ladies we've been pushing out her story and really supporting her as much as we can and integrating her into the community.

‘This gives her a sense of belonging because she knows everyone is behind her and wants her to do really well and also so she can support her two little boys.’

The Litter Ladies, whose ethos is to protect their patch of the world while looking after their neighbours, got both Antonina’s boys involved in their litter picking sessions after they moved in to help them meet new people in the community.

Now both of them have been provided a ‘Litter Lads’ shirt.

On the launch of her business, Antonina said: ‘I am very grateful for the help I have received from the people of Portchester, both in donating money to help me start my business on a very small scale and the loan of a bicycle from one family to solve my transport problems.

‘I would definitely like to grow my business so I can support myself and my boys.’

Claire added: ‘Tonya wants to get into the community, learn English and do what she does best which is paint absolutely gorgeous nails.

‘She's got some strong, long-lasting clients now. Tonya wants to work and we want to see her do really well.’

Antonina has been trading for the last three weeks thanks to support from the community.

Last week, the company that print The Litter Ladies’ t-shirts donated a spa tunic with Antonina’s business logo.

To donate to Claire’s fundraiser supporting Ukrainian refugees go to justgiving.com/crowdfunding/claire-turner-693?