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Inspiring Enterprise
Young mums from Basingstoke domestic abuse refuge
Young mums from Basingstoke domestic abuse refuge
The Inspiring Enterprise Programme funded by the Big Lottery and European Social Fund aims to give individuals who are not in earned income to have the opportunity of finding out how to set up a social enterprise with a view of starting their own business, go on to further training or gain more confidence in order to get a job.
Approach
We worked with a group of young mums from the Domestic Abuse Refuge in Basingstoke and they attended the 3 tailor-made workshops alongside their Recovery Programme Workshops after their course had been running about 8 weeks.
We had to wait for this time period to allow the young mums to be in the right place to be able think about moving forwards and possibly setting up a business or going back to work to gain financial independence and confidence in themselves.
K & C was invited to attend 3 workshops about social enterprise which covered ideas generation, mission and vision, branding, sales and marketing and finance and legals. These were to be run every week, for 3 weeks, alongside the Recovery Programme in a small group of other participants to aid brain-storming, networking, collaboration and moving ideas forwards.
K & Cs confidence grew over the period of the workshops and they made some good contacts with the other participants, and collaborated on other contacts and networks they could share, as well as their own work experiences.
Results
K&C attended the workshops and discussed setting up a social enterprise which resulted in them beginning their own business selling personalised items to parents with children.
Once we had finished the workshops the mums were offered one-to-one mentoring to develop their ideas and move their business forwards which was extremely successful.
These young mums took all the advice, worked really hard at their business and have now successfully
- launched a brand new website,
- totally rebranded their company,
- started a Business Bible,
- learned about pricing and product planning
- know what it means to be a business owner.
It has been a little overwhelming for the mums at times, C is not very confident and would probably benefit more from retraining to update her skills and gain confidence in herself. K has improved in confidence but needs the guidance that mentoring provides to move things forwards but she is a real entrepreneur and will, I believe, make this business a success. They are both entering a world they have not experienced before and are enthusiastic and keen to learn.
K & C also gave a presentation to another group of DA Group mums, providing the other mums with inspiration that life can get better and that they are worth something and can be successful with the right help and guidance and support.
An extremely successful result. I believe, having given these mums a glimpse of the opportunities that are around to help them become independent has been immensely important for them and helps them to move forwards from these difficult traumas.