A MUM of two who lost her job due to the Covid-19 pandemic is aiming to take her catering business to the next level to help bring Ryedale its first curry van.

Natasha Howard, 31, lost her cleaning job in July 2020 because of the pandemic, so decided to turn her passion for Indian food into a business. She set up Sugar & Spice, a home-based, Indian inspired catering company during the second wave of Covid.

Since then, she’s been working around-the-clock, juggling setting up Sugar & Spice with home schooling her sons, Alfie, 12, and Tobias, 8, in each lockdown.

Since Sugar & Spice began, Natasha, Alfie and Tobias have been out and about on most weekends delivering authentic, delicious Indian food and home baked treats to customers in local villages.

The business is now at the stage where it can serve more communities. There’s no Government funding to help Natasha and she’s invested as much of her own funds into the business as she can. Now, she's turning to ‘Go Fund Me’ to raise £20,000 to purchase and kit out a catering trailer as a curry van. Funds will also go towards altering her home-based storage area to make it more efficient and usable.

Natasha said: “It’s my aim to bring a curry van to Ryedale so that curry night can become a tradition in villages that normally miss out on takeaways because they’re too far away from a restaurant. I use locally sourced ingredients, home ground spices and butcher’s meat to help support local businesses and love nothing more than serving up a truly delicious meal, making the 'takeaway bloat' a thing of the past.

“When I lost my job I was really worried. I knew I needed to make money to support my sons. Since I’ve been able to turn a negative into a positive by setting up Sugar & Spice, I want to give back to the community and offer thanks to those who’ve supported me this far. Once established, the curry van will make a monthly trip to those in need. There will be nominated people/charities/areas/events, which customers can vote for when collecting their orders.”

As a thank you to people who pledge towards Natasha’s ‘Go Fund Me’ campaign, she’s offering a reward for certain donations.