A COCKERMOUTH woman has started a vital service to provide people in west Cumbria with basic foot care, and so far her venture is going from strength to strength.

Originally from Wiltshire, Lucy King, 39, who has lived in Cockermouth for the last two and a half years, qualified as a foot health practitioner from the SMAE institute in Maidenhead in August 2023.

Having worked as a science teacher 12 years previous to starting her business, Lucy has said she is enjoying the new venture which allows her to 'meet lots of new and interesting people and be in charge of her own timetable so that she can spend more time with her family'.

As part of the business she visits clients within a 15 mile radius of Cockermouth to carry out basic foot care such as nail cutting, removal of hard skin (callus) and corns, treatment of early ingrown toenails, identifying and treating fungal nail and skin infections and general diabetic foot management.

Times and Star: Lucy carrying out a footcare treatment on one of her patients.Lucy carrying out a footcare treatment on one of her patients. (Image: Supplied)

Speaking about starting her business, Lucy said: "I feel the job has started very well. A lot of people in the area need basic foot care and I am now starting to get to the stage where I get a lot of recommendations through word of mouth which is great.

"The patients I have treated so far have been so lovely and appreciative of the service I offer.

"So far it has been very successful, most weeks I get phone calls from new patients and the majority of my patients book regular visits. I have had some very positive feedback about my work which is reassuring when you start out in a new career."

The business allows people to have the treatments in their own homes, with Lucy saying: "I think that by being a mobile service, I enable my patients to have more flexibility as they can have treatments that fit in with their day and don't require them to have to find someone to take them to appointments."

When asked about her aspirations for the future of the business, Lucy said: "I hope to establish a regular client list and then when I have more experience I can perhaps look into training to do additional treatments such as toenail reconstruction."