Welcome to The Growing Club CIC

Enabling women to rediscover confidence, develop skills and start or grow a sustainable businesses.

where every woman thrives

Since 2016 we have been designing and delivering training by women for women. Enabling over 1,000 women to rediscover confidence and use skills to return to work, education, to renegotiate positions, and to start and grow sustainable businesses.

Founded by Jane Binnion and Rachel Holme as an experiment to bridge the gap in business education. The Growing Club is a peer-to-peer led training team that have delivered over 50 trailblazing programmes with life changing outcomes.

What's new at The Growing Club?

Book now to join our 2025 business course cohorts and skills workshops.

Written evidence submitted by The Growing Club to the Women and Equalities Committee: Female Entrepreneurship Inquiry, has now been published on the parliament website.

Why we are here?

There are many reasons that motivate us to do what we do, for example:

Currently in the UK 24% of women are paid below the living wage, often in essential but insecure jobs – with even greater insecurity for Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority women
The gender pay gap at pension age is 38% as women have been less able to contribute to their pension due to low pay and caring responsibilities
The gender pay gap amongst self-employed is 49%!

Your motivations to join us may be different, we would love to hear your story.

What are we doing to create change?

We champion local economic growth and community wellbeing.

In 2021 – 2022 locally and online:

96% of our income was spent in the local economy
We created paid work for 55 women
96% of participants said their confidence had increased
93% said they feel more empowered
91% said their wellbeing has improved
58% said their income had increased (despite the pandemic)

What can we offer you?

A “starting where you’re at” chat
Weekly drop-in session
A one-to-one call
Meet-ups and networking events
In person and online courses and training
Personal business start-up mentoring
Trainer training and paid opportunities

Our Courses

No matter what stage you are at, we are here to help you. We run courses ranging from 6 weeks to 12 months. To find out more about each course, choose one of the options below.

"Before joining The Sowing Club, I was feeling really low with no confidence and I could barely leave the house. Working alongside the other women on the course, helped me to focus on myself ... I feel I can accomplish anything!"

"I've learnt a lot of things, particularly marketing; understanding your customer and understanding what you want to achieve. All of that really I didn't know where to start."

"Being a sole trader I found it hard to make unemotional decisions, but working alongside likeminded people, I feel I am in control of my destiny and business growth. [...] The Growing Club has been such a bonus to me."