My name is María Fernanda, and my journey towards MF Sparkling & Shine Ltd began when I became a young mum, trying to respond to life before I had even learned how to understand it.
I had big ambitions, many plans, and a hunger to explore the world but I soon discovered that life is not a linear path but contain twists and turns. I had to learn how to raise a child and raise myself at the same time.
At nineteen, I made one of the hardest and biggest decisions of my life: to fly to the United Kingdom in search of opportunities to build a better life. I left my family including my baby in Colombia for a few months travelling with a tight, anxious heart, but also the hope of building a better future for him.
When I was finally able to bring my son to London with me, I thought life would fall into place but things became even more challenging.
My husband and I were working shifts of up to 15 hours a day and the worst part is that our schedules never matched. When he finished his shift, I would start mine. At the end of our work, neither had the energy to do anything else.
In the middle of that jagged rhythm, we had a small child who needed time, presence, patience and attention -- things that, even though we loved him deeply, we sometimes couldn’t give him because life outside our home demanded a lot as well.
Life always demanded something: errands, responsibilities, things that couldn’t wait. On our days off, we couldn't make proper plans to explore London as a family. Whatever time we had off work, we used to try to regain strength, recover from exhaustion and spend time with our child.
Eventually, the separation came. It was another blow that left me feeling even more lost, without direction, unsure of where to start again.
I found myself alone in a country I was still learning to navigate with my son depending entirely on me, and unable to find any job that truly fit the unconventional pattern of a single parent's life.
I had exactly six hours a day to leave the house, work, and return.
That meant walking fast, constantly running for the bus, praying there were no unnecessary delays, and getting back just in time to pick up my son to become mum again.
But within that mad, daily rush, I met so many just like me:
women performing miracles with time, women working when they could, not when they wanted, women tidying other people’s homes while their hearts were brimming with worries, women with no one else to look after their children, women who weren’t asking for much just a fair chance.
Some had been deceived.
Others were never paid in full.
Many were treated as if they were invisible.
But they all had something in common: the need for dignified work and a schedule that didn’t take the honour of being a present mother away from them.
One day, in the midst of surviving, I asked two questions that changed everything:
1. What if I could create an opportunity where these women were truly seen?
2. What if this opportunity didn't mean just cleaning spaces for the sake of cleaning, but it was helping others rebuild their lives the way they want to?
That’s how MF Sparkling & Shine Ltd was born.
Not as just another business, but an idea in response to a reality lived by thousands of single parents, especially women alone in the UK.
My idea was simple and deeply human:
- To build a company where cleaning is not just a task to do but an act of care, where every space served is left spotless.
- To build a workplace where there is breathing room to have life outside it.
I am trying to do this by establishing a business where:
- An employee can work between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
- Responding to the employee's child's needs doesn’t cost them their job
- Clients understand that behind every clean home, there is a story, a battle, and a brave heart.
MF Sparkling & Shine doesn’t just clean.
It supports, it uplifts, and it respects.
We want every client to feel that the person entering their home treats it with care as if it were their own. We want every worker to feel that their time, their child, and their personal lives matter. We want to offer dignified jobs to those who need them the most and have carried the heaviest loads.
MF Sparkling & Shine was born from sleepless nights, tears, cold bus rides at 6 a.m., fear and courage…but it was also born from a profound love for my son and a clear truth: No parent should ever have to choose between being a parent and being able to work.
The business has gained its footing in the industry and has a steady roster of loyal and satisfied clients. We hope to raise funds so we can expand with the goal of:
- Having an office space to train, perform valuable administrative tasks, and serve as base to recruit both new employees and
- Hiring 25+ cleaners, supervisors & managers with staff training & wellbeing programmes
- 5 branded eco-vans with GPS and logistics systems.
- Maintenance equipment and upgrading to better eco-friendly suppliers / logistical tools.
- Booking app, CRM, payroll, and online payment systems.
- Marketing support: Branding, social campaigns, sales team, expos.
Why Support Us?
✔ Women-led and immigrant-rooted business.
✔ Proven track record and existing contracts.
✔ Huge growth sector: UK facilities management worth £65bn+ annually.
✔ Measurable community impact: jobs, training, opportunities for single parents.
✔ Driving a greener, fairer future with sustainable cleaning.