Angela Hallam has made football mascots at home for nearly 40 years. William Hunt, 15, fed the calves before school and after.

The first things you notice in Angela Hallam's home are a burger made of styrofoam and a framed photograph of a bulldog mascot above the fireplace. 1

She is 71 and lives in Coventry, and the scrapbook in her hands holds close to 40 years of football mascots.

The work started with fancy dress. Hallam had built a career designing costumes for shops when, in 1987, a club asked her to make a mascot. The club was Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the costume was the first Wolfie. Then came the first mascots for Leicester City, Derby County, Aston Villa, Coventry City, Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion. 1

"I was there first," she said. 1

The timing explains the rush. Through the late 1980s, English clubs were trying to leave the hooligan years behind and look like somewhere a family could spend a Saturday, and they borrowed the American habit of putting a character on the pitch. Hallam's order book filled a year in advance. "I could phone a club and say, 'do you want a mascot?'" she said. "So it was quite lucrative back then." 1

She worked on her own, out of her living and dining rooms, while raising two young children by herself. 1

Hundreds of costumes followed: Lenny the Lion for Shrewsbury Town, Harry the Harrier for Kidderminster Harriers, Bobby the Buck for AFC Telford United, Swifty for Walsall FC. 1

Then London companies spotted the market, and staff at the clubs changed. "I just had to try and keep up as much as I could," she said. 1

Her way of keeping up was to stay close to the people inside the suits. When the Mascot Grand National began in 1999, Hallam worked it as the mascot doctor, every September for 11 years, with dozens of mascots racing. 1

"I was learning about what makes a better costume at the same time because I was actually talking to the people who wear them, and I don't think some of the bigger companies did that," she said. "That's probably what's kept me going and people coming back." 1

She lives now with her husband of 20 years and two cats, and costumes still arrive at the house for cleaning and repair. "If they have got a solid inside then they will go in the bath, so you will very often see a head in the bath soaking," she said. 1

What I keep coming back to is where the work happened: a living room and a dining room in Coventry.

Heavy costumes through a summer heatwave were "a lot", she said. When her bank manager raised the subject of retirement, she had an answer ready. "I remember saying to him, 'Picasso did his best work in his 90s, artists don't tend to retire, they just keep going'," she said. She still designs mascots for clubs, along with novelty pet cushions, knitted fairies and bags. 1

William Hunt is 15 and lives on his family's mixed livestock farm at Combs, in the High Peak, Derbyshire. 2

His grandfather, David Hall, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and over the past year William took on work that the family would normally have shared. He got up early to feed and check the calves before school, then went back to the yard after lessons. 3

David Hall died in July, aged 78. 2

On 19 September, at the Young British Farming Awards held at Cannon Hall Farm, William was named the Farmers Guardian Young Farming Hero. 3 The judges praised his "unwavering support for his family through an incredibly difficult time", and said he balanced school and a part-time job with helping to keep the farm running when his grandad fell ill. 2

The farm runs sheep and rears calves. William does the feeding and the animal health checks, helps at lambing, and takes the fencing and general maintenance. 3

"Winning the award was an emotional time because my grandpa wasn't there to celebrate it with us," he said. "I sat with him in the tractor from a very young age and we went up and down the field on the quad and the digger. He taught me everything and I miss him dearly." 2

His mother, Tracey, learned he had been shortlisted on the day her father died. She calls her son "amazing", and says he is especially useful at lambing time and in the hay-making season. 2

His grandmother, Patricia Hall, put the daily version of it: "He never lies in bed, and he'll come out at any time of the night to help me catch sheep or deliver lambs." 2

William sits his GCSEs next summer. He plans to keep working on the farm, and then train as a butcher. 2