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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Emily Phillips & Sam Elliott-Gibbs

'I struggled living off of Universal Credit - now I earn 10,000 a MONTH'

A woman who used to rely on benefits now rakes in £10,000 a month and uses her OnlyFans earnings to help feed her local community.

Amber O'Donnell says she has been inspired to help those struggling in her area by Manchester United and England superstar Marcus Rashford.

The 24-year-old was forced to get by on just £500 a month, surviving on packets of Pasta 'n' Sauce during the pandemic before setting up an a racy account back in 2020.

Now the woman from Sheffield, south Yorkshire, earns six figures every year and with the first £500 she made delivered food parcels to low-income families in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire.

Amber O'Donnel now earns over £10,000 a month (Courtesy Amber O'Donnel / SWNS)
Her family and friends support her OnlyFans move (Courtesy Amber O'Donnel / SWNS)

Alongside partner, Chris, 24, who works in construction, she donated non-perishables such as pasta and tinned foods, as well as toiletries and feminine hygiene products after a huge Tesco shopping trip.

The curvy model still makes regular anonymous donations to various local charities and has also been able to rent her £1k per month dream home and buy her £10k dream car - a pink Nissan Figaro.

Amber said: "I wasn't eligible for furlough payments when the pandemic hit, so I was only getting £500 per month to live on.

"My partner had a part-time job at the checkouts at Morrisons too, but it was just a constant struggle every month.

"For me, it's important to remember where you come from.

"As I come from a low-income family, it's important for me to be in a position to give to people.

She knew what she had to do - feed the local community (Courtesy Amber O'Donnel / SWNS)

"I now earn over five figures every month - around £10k on average.

''My subscribers love my cosplay looks - especially Velma from Scooby Doo but I've also done Toy Story and The Incredibles too.

"I get comments saying I'm selfish because of what I do, but it's just not true. I love helping others, it's so rewarding."

In March 2020, Amber was due to begin studying biomedical sciences at the University of Sheffield while working part-time in Starbucks.

After being told she wasn't eligible for furlough, Amber was left with a £500-a-month universal credit payment to live on.

She said: ''I would say 95 per cent of our income went on bills. That meant we had no money for eating out, or any extras.

"I remember living on those Pasta 'n' Sauce sachets and having them twice a day.

She only posts content she is comfortable with on the racy website (Courtesy Amber O'Donnel / SWNS)
She used to be on universal credit - now she's gone global! (Courtesy Amber O'Donnel / SWNS)

"We were in a lucky position with family members throwing us an extra £20 here and there if we needed, but it was still difficult.

"I knew someone who had started on Only Fans making a load of money a month. My family and friends were really supportive. Chris said I should if it could help us, and my mum is my biggest supporter.''

Amber initially launched her account in July 2020, before really investing more time in it from September 2020.

She said: "When you go on the app, you have to start promoting yourself elsewhere if you want to make money.

"I made a Twitter account and began building my followers. I was in a few 'retweet groups' which is where around 70 girls will retweet each other's content to build their following.

"In a few months I had 50k followers on Twitter. In mid-2021 I downloaded TikTok and did a voiceover to a famous sound and went viral. I now have around 250k followers on there.

"All my pictures I take myself, it's all done by me from my phone with a ring light. I would say my style on OnlyFans is amateur-authentic, and I do a fair bit of Cosplay.

She was set an example by Marcus Rashford (PA)

"My Velma and Daphne looks from Scooby Doo cartoons were popular - I only post content I'm comfortable with, and I make sure I'm staying within my boundaries."

After her first OnlyFans payment of £500, Amber - who decided not to go ahead with her university degree - reached out to people in her local community via her Facebook account.

She posted on her local community pages, and asked if there were any families who would benefit from a food parcel and added: "I took lots of inspiration from Marcus Rashford, he's incredible.

"We went to Tesco and filled two or three trolleys of toiletries like toothbrushes, toothpaste, and mouthwash, as well as feminine hygiene products.

"We got tinned foods that would last the longest, the basics that would make the most meals really.

"We couldn't fit it all in the car, so my partner had to come in his van to help."

Amber made up 20 food parcels, for people who had reached out to her on Facebook, and dropped them off at their homes, with any left overs being donated to local food banks.

Her career as a full-time Only Fans model has also allowed Amber - who says the day-to-day content creation "feels like it never stops" - to make dream purchases for herself and her family.

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