12 November 2023 , 15:45
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A mum who spent thousands on Lego, has a building room in her house and even met her partner through her hobby says she doesn’t care if people find it weird.
Sally Hope, from Radcliffe, became interested in the building-block toys when she was given her first set at 7-years-old. The mum-of-three constantly played with the gift – a knight pulling a horse and cart with treasure in it – until she lost interest as a teen.
But it wasn’t until her youngest son was gifted a Lego mansion that her passion was reignited – seeing her go on to spend around £2,000 on the popular building blocks. She said: “My eldest child was obsessed with Lego but I was never allowed to help. She built it all herself and I guess I was being busy with little babies and then babies when she was that age. I didn’t really get into it with her.
“But I did notice a really cool Tower Bridge set that I thought I would love to have as a project. It was over £200. I dropped hints around Christmas but they fell on deaf ears.
Sally, who now lives in Lancaster, spent years trying to save for the Tower Bridge set but could “never justify the cost” (MEN Media)“When my younger son was about five, my ex-husband bought him a Lego Scooby Doo mansion. It was too difficult for him so I had to help and I really enjoyed it.”
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Sally, who now lives in Lancaster, spent years trying to save for the Tower Bridge set but could “never justify the cost”. Each time she saved enough, the mum was hit by unexpected bills including washing machine faults and a broken-down car.
She purchased smaller sets including a Big Ben model and a VW campervan until finally deciding to treat herself – and her passion only grew from there. Around the same time, the mum was invited to the 40th birthday of a former housemate. There, she was reunited with a friend she used to play Lego with at university.
A mum whose spent thousands on Lego, has a building room in her house and even met her partner through her hobby (MEN Media)The pair bonded over their love of the toys again and ended up dating – remaining together six years on. Sally told The Manchester Evening News: When I was at uni a guy invited me on the weirdest date. He said he liked Lego and I told him I did too. He invited me to his house to play Lego. I quite fancied him, but because I had a boyfriend at the time, I took my friend with me to make it clear it wasn’t a date.”
“About six years ago, just as I was about to buy the Tower Bridge set, my ex-housemate had a 40th birthday party and invited the guy who invited me to play Lego. I still fancied him. He told me he’d still got all this Lego and showed me some photos. This time, I invited him round to my house to play Lego and we ended up together.”
Sally Hope, from Radcliffe, became interested in the building-block toys when she was given her first set at seven-years-old (MEN Media)She added: ”When it was my birthday, I was lamenting that I’d given all my childhood Lego to my niece and nephew. I said I wish I still had that first set my sister bought me. He tracked it down and bought it for me. It came without the box so he made one – even drawing all the pictures that were on the original box. It’s one of the most romantic presents I’ve ever had.”
As her collection grew author Sally - who is set to publish a book called 30 Steps To Finding Yourself: An Interactive Journey to Self-Discovery - aimed at helping women build their confidence and self-esteem to re-discover their sense of self, eventually decided to dedicate an entire room in her home to building.
She said: “If I’m building a set, I love just following the instruction because it’s relaxing,” she added. “It’s not difficult, so it isn’t taxing or tiring.”
“But it requires enough concentration that I have to switch off from any life stresses. I tend to build sets in the evening when the kids are in their rooms with either a cup of tea or some wine and some music or a podcast. It gives me space to just be quiet and chilled.”
“When I’m building something I’ve created myself, it’s less relaxing and more frenetic. I find it a really good creative outlet. As a hobby, it started when the kids were young and I was a single parent so I couldn’t go out much. I needed something I could do at home – but now I would choose to stay home and build Lego.”