Five Minutes With...Jolene Faruqi of Bawtry Natural Health

The couple live in Bessacarr with their three teenage daughters – Lexi, 14, Alex, 15 and 16-year-old Mia - and two house rabbits, and own Bawtry Natural Health at South Parade in Bawtry.

The business offers a therapy centre and shop to cater for all aspects of health and well-being.

Jolene, aged 44, explained all about their company: “We’ve had the shop for five years.

"We bought a business which had been here for 17 years before that.

"When we took over we initially just got to know the business and the clients.

"Taz has been an Amatsu Therapist for 22 years and after a long-standing interest in nutrition, qualified as a registered nutritional therapist in 2017. Having run successful clinics in London and Doncaster, Taz has amassed a wealth of experience treating a variety of conditions from structural problems (back, neck, knee etc) to migraines and digestive problems.

"Since taking over the business we’ve built it up and added things. One example is we’ve just made our own refill station for home care and body care products.

"Customers can purchase Bio-D, Faith in Nature and Ecoleaf products in bottles, made using 100 per cent post consumer plastic, and then come back to refill them using our pump dispensers.

"We hold workshops and events, our last one was about essential oils and we had an aromatherpist come in to teach how to blend oils.

"We try to empower people to take control of their health and we offer advice on lifestyle, skincare, weight management, holistic therapies, stress relief and the menopause amongst many others.

“The therapies and the shop work together really well, they complement each other.

"We’ve just one member of staff, Andrea works in the shop and she is really knowledgeable and helpful, and different therapists do come in and use our space whether that’s for acupuncture, osteopathy, massage or reflexology.

“We also do ear syringing. We have a nurse who comes in and had a great career with the NHS but has now gone private, we’re lucky to have her.

“We get a good mix of customers and they come from as far as Beverley, Rotherham, Retford and Worksop.

"We’ve been delivering to clients during lockdown and that’s taken off covering a wide area.

"It was nice to get out and help people who were shielding and vulnerable.

"We are very lucky because we were allowed to stay open during lockdown and we had a lot of customers coming in but adhering to the guidelines, and had lots of telehone calls.

“We tried our best to stock things like flour and yeast which people were struggling to get hold of."

But what about the future?

“We’ve just had the website done, andf the shop is going online. We’re looiking at how we market ourselves, and just improving everything we do really.

"We’re getting back on our feet with the new guidelines from the government, we can’t see as many clients but it is all workable.”

And do the couple have any time for hobbies?

"I do aerial hoop at Benefit in Doncaster to help me keep fit, I enjoy that and I do that with my girls, it’s good fun, something a bit different to do, I also do a bit of yoga.”

Taz said: “I like climbing, circuit training and long distance challenge walking.

"Every month I do between 25 and 50 miles with friends. There are a lot of organised walks, events scattered around the country that you can drop into.”

Jolene continued: “We look to have a really good work life balance, we both have time at home, we both have time with the children, give time for work and time for ourselves.

"We both love to cook and we all have an evening meal together every night. We passed our love of cooking and baking onto the kids.

"I love to bake but I love to eat it too. I used to be a baker, I made wedding cakes, birthday cakes etc, I absolutely loved it, I still bake and make cakes for friends and family, my girls like to help too.

"We are currently deciding on a new addition to our skincare range that is natural, organic, vegan, plastic-free and effective.

"We’re passionate about natural health and wellbeing, looking after the environment, recycling, being green and helping to save the planet."

Find out more at www.bawtrynaturalhealth.co.uk or visit them at 30-32 South Parade, Bawtry, DN10 6JH, they are open Monday to Saturday 10am-5pm, closed on Sunday. Telephone 01302 719917.