Brothers Aidan and Ruaridh Blackett are hoping to bring a ray of light to peoples’ lives during the coronavirus pandemic.

The pair, who started a candle-making company just over a year ago, are running a monthly competition to win free personalised products.

They wanted to recognise people’s resilience and determination in their fightback against the outbreak.

The brothers, aged just 22 and 18, run The Victorian Candle Co. from their home at Coledale Meadows, which is just off Newtown Road in Carlisle.

They pride themselves in their hand-poured, vegan-friendly candles which are made from pure soy wax.

Ruaridh, known as Ru, started the business aged 17, while he was studying at Newman Catholic School’s sixth form.

And since then, it’s grown from strength-to-strength, with the company now getting orders from across the globe.

“I initially tried out a few business ideas but fell in love with the process of making candles,” said Ru, who is head of production.

“Since last year we've slowly been growing our small business, and our candles have now been shipped to every corner of the world. We absolutely love hearing people's feedback and can't wait for everyone to try our products.”

They decided to run monthly competitions to give away three personalised candles to three people living in Cumbria.

Aidan, marketing and distribution manager, explained how they came up with the kind-hearted gesture.

“Cumbria is full of determined people who let nothing dampen their spirits, and this pandemic is no exception,” he said.

“Ru and I are thrilled to be giving away free personalised candles on our social media pages as a token of appreciation for the local people.

“We're extremely proud of the fact that our products are hand-poured in small batches while being vegan-friendly.”

The candles have already been a huge success with more than 1,000 sold so far. Carlisle Cathedral has also recently began to stock the products in its new Welcome Centre. To find out more about the candles, visit www.victoriancandle.co. To enter the competition visit www.facebook.com/victoriancandleco or Instagram @victoriancandleco