A case study on Hayley Cooper, who runs her own lettings and property management company, managing a portfolio of properties in and around Lancaster and Morecambe. Hayley is on the Bloom and Grow course with The Growing Club CIC.
Laura is a flower farmer in Lancaster and does floristry as well. She came across Jane and The Growing Club through the Market Trading team at Lancaster Charter Market.
Nikki Cookson is the owner of Woodcroft Crafts. She shares her story about how her business started, and how The Growing Club CIC has helped her gain confidence with her business through peer support and a strong network of women in business. Nikki is currently on the Bloom and Grow online training course, on a Pay It Forward grant, funded by Boost: Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub. The course helps women to develop and grow sustainable businesses.
Our latest course, Branching Out, will help unwaged young women to explore skills and training options available to them. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted young women particularly hard, resulting in reduced employment and future job opportunities.
Young Women’s Trust and Women’s Budget Group published a policy briefing in November 2020. They talked about how, even prior the Coronavirus pandemic, young women faced employment disadvantages, discrimination and sexual harassment. The pandemic dented young women’s employment the hardest, with a third of all young women holding employment in sectors like hospitality, leisure and tourism. Such sectors have effectively been shut down in the wake of COVID-19.
This has led to an ongoing mental health crisis, financial hardship and a bleak outlook for the recovery of vulnerable groups in society like young women. In October 2020, an estimated 1.5 million young women suffered a reduction on income since the the pandemic began. Because of this, approximately 750,000 young women having been made to go to work, despite concerns about health and safety.
Starting on May 6 2021, The Growing Club CIC is running an 18-hour, fully-funded course for unwaged young women aged 19-24. Branching Out is a course funded by the Frances C Scott Charitable Trust. The course will run in Lancaster and will help young women to: build on their skills, explore opportunities available to them, develop confidence and communication skills, employment and self-employment skills, network building, how to prepare a CV and develop job application and interview skills.
Attendees will be allocated a mentor to help them for 12 months, to stay supported and on-track.
Our director, Jane Binnion, said:
“The pandemic has led us to move work with young women higher up our list of priorities, as they have been so severely impacted – emotionally and financially – with many seeing their future as quite bleak. I have a young daughter myself and have witnessed first-hand the struggles to find work, pay rent and stay buoyant. We are so pleased to have received this funding which enables us to support local young women.”
To book a place on Branching Out, visit Eventbrite or for more details, please contact jane@thegrowingclub.co.uk
We have an excellent event coming up this month, led by money experts Cleona Lira and Rebecca O’Connor. They’ll be talking about financial investments that aren’t just for the rich.
Worries about money and financial independence affect most women. And with the change of the pension age many women are now also worried about how they will manage financially as they get older.
When many of us think of investments we think of stocks and shares and it can feel confusing and nothing to do with us. But making good decisions about our money is important, whatever our income.
This workshop is suited to a beginner level, for those with a smaller investment potential and curious. You can start investing with as little as £50 per month in an investment, or £25 per month in a pension. The information will be more suited to a UK audience however general principles of investing will also be covered.
The session will be interactive and fun, with small breakout groups and invitations to post questions.
By the end of the session, you will leave feeling confident about getting started with investing and taking some action.
The session will to cover:
· Why invest?
· Common investor self-sabotaging behaviours
· What are wrappers? ISAs v/s pensions
· What are shares and bonds?
. Sustainable Investment
· How can I get started? What are the differences between active/passive/ethical/impact investment funds?
Q&A section – ask anything about investing. We will aim to answer as many questions as possible, but we request please that you write a concise, clear question that you can post in the chat when asked. If your question is difficult to understand, it may not get picked up to be answered.
Disclaimer: It will not be possible to provide any kind of personalised, individual advice in this workshop. The information provided is for informational purposes only and cannot be considered as financial advice. We have 50 tickets available and registrations will close by 5 pm on the 18th of April. Please book as soon as possible to ensure your place.
We have some funding for this event, however, it does not cover all our costs. We need financial support which enables us to help more women.
So, if you are able to live comfortably, then please consider investing in yourself and in other women by choosing the higher ticket price. Tickets are £30 and £50.
Book your ticket here.
As always, we have some free places for women in hardship – contact lisa@thegrowingclub.co.uk to book a free place.
Income from this event will go towards supporting the work of The Growing Club. The Growing Club CIC is a not-for-profit organisation. We provide a range of skills training and opportunities for women, using a creative and alternative peer-support model.
Cleona is an Independent Financial Adviser, based in London and has been working to help people with their financial goals since 2001.
Her educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Business Administration. Cleona is a Chartered Financial Planner and a member of the Chartered Insurance Institute. She is also a sustainable investing specialist.
Becky is Head of Pensions & Savings at interactive investor, the DIY investment platform, and co-founder of Good With Money, the ethical personal finance website. She spent eight years as a journalist at The Times covering personal finance and business and three years as communications director of a renewable energy crowdfunding platform.
Becky is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in recognition of her work in raising the profile of ethical personal finance and a trustee of UK Mortgage Prisoners, the charity campaigning on behalf of mortgage prisoners.
Some of us are so used to coping and looking after other people that we don’t even know what we need and that makes it tricky to ask. And of course if we are stressed or overwhelmed our requests for support can come out all wrong. We also have a culture of independence that tells us the story that we should be able to manage everything ourselves.
When I was just exploring asking, a friend and I did an experiment. As we were walking in the countryside we asked everyone we met if they knew if there was an ice cream van at the car park we were heading for. Every single person we asked engaged in conversation and tried to help us. They apologised for not knowing, or they told us where we definitely could get an ice cream.
Human beings love to help each other and when our requests are clear it makes it easy for people to say yes. In fact, I see asking as giving others an opportunity to meet their needs for contribution.
Asking for the specific thing we need can bring clarity and opportunity. Asking makes things happen – small things and huge things. When I began to ask with clarity and started to hear yes, I got braver, and it is astonishing what people will give, how much human beings will help each other when given the opportunity. This can help us to manage on a day to day basis and can also help us bring change and dreams into reality.
It models for others the potential of asking and can help empower them to ask.
The Growing Club CIC is running a workshop on When, Why and How to Ask For What You Want, facilitated by Sarah Ludford. It’s on Wednesday 7 April 2021, 18:30 – 21:00hrs, with a small charge of £5 per attendee. You can find a link here to book online. Please contact Sarah for further information or questions – sarah@thegrowingclub.co.uk.
The Growing Club CIC is training a second group of mentors to support our start-up group. Mentoring plays an important role in supporting women in business and is recommended as a strategy for supporting recovery and long-term sustainability.
This is a comprehensive training course that will strengthen your leaderships skills, support your CPD and enable you to apply for paid mentoring opportunities.
This is a three-session course, running on Thursday 22nd April, 29th April and 6th May 2021. Sessions will run from 09.30 – 12.30 via Zoom or in Lancaster. You are required to attend all sessions.
This funded opportunity is for you if you:
Claire, a previous attendee and Growing Club Mentor, said:
“I found the training really insightful, from active listening skills to techniques of questioning and reflection to help empower fellow women in business to achieve their knowledge and goals. I’ve since gone on to train in coaching, with the mentoring training directly contributing towards my skills and capabilities.
“I love the fact that The Growing Club has such a strong ethic of women-supporting-women, and I’m happy to support a woman in business through her own personal journey.”
The training is free if you commit to working with your mentee for three years. If we have spaces available, we are able to open up this training to others at a cost of £750.
Training will be delivered by Paul Aisthorpe and Nicola Combe. For more information, please email jane@thegrowingclub.co.uk or call 07521 314926. You can download the application form here and return to Jane.
Today is International Women’s Day 2021 (IWD), where we celebrate achievements and gains in gender equality, whilst still continuing the challenge to strive for further gains on a global level for a more gender-equal world.
This year’s theme is Choose to Challenge, encouraging women to continue to challenge gender bias and inequality, helping to create a more equal world.
Throughout this week, we’ll be celebrating IWD 2021 by sharing stories from some of the women within The Growing Club CIC network. Today is the first instalment, with three of our course graduates explaining a little more about what they do.
You can find out more about Ginny via her website, Facebook or Instagram.
Katie can be found over on her website, Instagram or Facebook.
Heading into spring with bounce or do you need a little extra support? However you’re feeling, we’ve got you covered with another packed month of The Wellbeing Programme, delivered by expert facilitators and wellness specialists and designed especially for women.
We’ve created a handy downloadable copy of The Wellbeing Programme for March, detailing all of the workshops and events that are scheduled for the coming month. You can download the PDF copy here. Keep an eye on our Facebook page too – we often add in special events and sessions as the month progresses.
If you have any questions, please do drop us a message here and we’ll get back to you.
Photo by Biegun Wschodni on Unsplash.
We all need a good listening to from time to time. This year, with all the challenges we have faced during 2020, we need it more than ever. At the same time, we have been less able to be around friends and spend time together, so although we have the phone, zoom, social media and a variety of other platforms, it’s been a lonely time for many.
Human beings need each other: we are interdependent creatures. Yet, the society we live in right now, often leads us to think we should be able to do it all on our own and that needing others is a sign of weakness.
Not so. Sharing what is going on for us can feel vulnerable, but as Brené Brown says in her book Rising Strong:
“Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage.”
Brené Brown
Sharing what is going on for us, being seen and heard may feel a bit vulnerable at first, but it’s amazing what a good listening to can do for us. When someone listens without judgement, we can feel a sense of being accompanied and less alone. And when we share out loud what is going on in our lives, we can gain more clarity about what is important to us. Even when all the listener does is just be there.
As a listener, it can be hard to see others in pain and we want to help. We might feel helpless, want to offer solutions or share our stories to let the speaker know we understand. Often, the best gift we can give to another is to just be there. Don’t just do something. Be there! Offer your presence as a gift and just be a listening companion. It can be a great relief to realise that you don’t have to fix anything and to know that that you can make a difference by simply listening.
As part of The Listening Project, we will explore how to create space for others, how to listen and how to take care of ourselves so we don’t get bogged down by what we hear. We’ll need lots of practice so there will be lots of chances to be heard as part of the course.
At the end of the course we will partner you with someone else who has taken part so that you can become listening partners and continue to provide listening support for each other. So no matter what life throws at you, you will have someone to listen. This could also include sharing when things are going well.
The course will not only enable you to improve your listening skills and have the opportunity to be heard – the skills you will learn can be invaluable in daily life in being able to hear more clearly what is important to others, and to fully listen and understand before responding.
This course will take place online and is free of charge. It begins on Monday February 15th, with sessions running on the Mondays of March 1st, 15th and 29th.
The times are 1pm – 2.30pm, with a commitment to practice with a partner in between sessions.
The final session is April 26th.
You can book this course via the link here.
The sessions are led by Sarah Ludford and Hannah Ehlert.
New month, new initiatives! We’re still busy creating support systems for women in business, and indeed, all women who would like to access our wellbeing sessions.
We’ve created a handy guide below to The Wellbeing Programme for February, for the workshops and events that are scheduled for February. You can download the PDF copy here.
March’s programme is currently being finalised and we’ll publish this towards the end of February.
Any questions? Drop us a message here and we’ll get back to you. Happy February-ing!
This is an introduction to Self-Compassion, by The Growing Club’s Wellbeing officer, Sarah Ludford. Sarah will be running a Self-Compassion Series, starting on the 26th February 2021. Find out more here.
Compassion is an old word that is getting used a lot more of late but how many of us actually know what it means? The Latin root for the word compassion is pati, which means ‘to suffer’, and the prefix com – means ‘with’. Compassion, originating from compati, which means to suffer with. I like to think of the ‘with’ as being alongside. If we are alongside someone in their suffering then we are moving into the realm of empathy rather than sympathy or feeling sorry for someone. We accompany them so they are not alone in difficult times.
Self-compassion, is being alongside myself. Sometimes, particularly at the moment, it can feel like we are alone most of the time, and yet the way the human brain works means that we are constantly talking to ourselves, constantly having conversations with ourselves. Some conversations that we might enjoy and some that might be harder to deal with. What this means is that is possible to be alongside ourselves, and to do this with compassion. The dialogues we have with ourselves could be compassionate and understanding rather than critical or blaming.
Self-compassion came to me slowly. For a long time when I was dealing with challenges and trying to understand myself, I would push myself. I would be seeking to understand, trying to find the answer, trying to get to a resolution. It was painful because I was always trying to get somewhere, rather than being where I was.
Gradually, through the practice of being listened to and accompanied, by receiving empathy and compassion from others, I began to find compassion for myself. When things were out of balance, I would make a gentle and loving enquiry of myself. I would sit with my feelings and let them be there. I would get curious rather than impatient. And I found this to be so much more nourishing and supportive of my well-being and my personal growth. To accept and love myself in the moment and to open to the possibility of self-understanding and growth through the process.
Discipline and drive can get us a long way but without kindness and compassion it can be an uncomfortable way to live. With self-compassion I can celebrate the highs and be accompanied in the lows. I can be present and supportive to myself and take the time to get curious about what is happening and what is important to me. If I can hold myself with compassion, then I can feel sad rather than being sad – which also means I hold the potential to feel happy at the same time!
Dr Kristin Neff, author of Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself says:
“Self-compassion is not based on positive judgments or evaluations, it is a way of relating to ourselves. People feel self-compassion because they are human beings, not because they are special and above average. It emphasizes interconnection rather than separateness. This means that with self-compassion, you don’t have to feel better than others to feel good about yourself. It also offers more emotional stability than self-esteem because it is always there for you – when you’re on top of the world and when you fall flat on your face.”
Dr Kristin Neff
I find self-compassion to be a powerful tool and I am passionate about sharing it with others. And it’s not just about being gentle. Self-compassion can include coming to know ourselves better and that can be very empowering. The practice I work with – Nonviolent Communication – provides the tools not only for compassion but for a deep understanding of self and others, and for developing steps to care for myself, to communicate with clarity and love and to consider and care for everyone’s needs.
I am excited about being able to offer this work to women as part of The Growing Club’s well-being programme. You can find out more and book here.
