business mentoring

Mentoring – a view from both sides

by with No Comment Business educationWomen in Business

For the last 5 years we have been recruiting and training women in business as mentors for the women graduating from our start-up programme.

If you have been wondering about being a mentor, we thought you might like to read the view from both sides.

Firstly, Rebecca Young, a branding designer, and young woman who graduated from her cohort in the middle of the pandemic and completed her mentoring at Christmas 2022.

“I was so grateful for the opportunity to work with a mentor as part of the Growing Club’s Roots and Shoots programme. I was paired with a brilliant mentor who I had a strong connection with. Together we created a space where there were no wrong answers and no achievement was too small to celebrate. I felt deeply understood, even when I couldn’t always find the words to express myself. It was wonderful to talk through my ideas with someone who I knew without a doubt was on my side. I left each monthly session feeling energised and positive.

My mentor taught me several practical techniques for managing my time and structuring my work week. This has been an important step towards overcoming feelings of anxiety and overwhelm as I work towards my business goals. She also supported me as I worked through projects with clients, and it was really special to share those experiences with her and hear her perspective. I now have a much clearer idea of the services I want to offer and an understanding of what clients will expect from me.

Perhaps the most important thing I have gained is the momentum to keep moving forward, one step at a time, even if my journey takes longer than someone else’s. I was really moved to hear from my mentor in our last session together that she enjoyed the experience too and is proud of what we achieved together.”

Whilst most of our mentors are local to North Lancashire / South Lakeland, Favour Onabanjo is one of our mentors who zooms in from Surrey. She is now working with her second mentee.

Favour wrote;
“I have been on the Growing Club mentoring scheme for over a year now. I really enjoyed it. Firstly, I love to offer help where I can; I also derive joy in helping others to be their best. That’s my motivator.

Being a business coach, I initially found it tricky to follow the mentoring model. I am used to coaching and handholding many of my paying clients. And one of my strengths which can sometimes turn into a weakness, is giving the DRIVE that my client needs to move ahead and succeed. So, the mentoring felt like, I wasn’t working in my best capacity, and I wasn’t comfortable with that. But once I got to the swing of things. I began to blend in. I realised I was here to encourage, listen, use examples to empower them, make suggestions etc.

How interesting a mentoring journey is will be determined mostly by your mentee. Whether they are ready to do the work to make the changes, they are looking to see. One of my mentees is supercharged. I always look forward to our meeting. She’s an action-taker and takes her personal development seriously.”

As you can see, two very different personality types, and that is why we take time to carefully match mentee and mentor for best fit. And furthermore, we hold bi-monthly mentor forum meetings for sharing and support. So we don’t just throw you in there and hope for the best!

If you would like to know more about being a mentor with us, or would like to sign up to the training which starts in April, please contact Rebecca by phone or email.

The Growing Club designs and delivers employment and enterprise training and support, by women for women.

Energy Advisors drop-in service

Winter Survival Project –

by with No Comment Wellbeing

“After 7 weeks of hand-washing and asking favours from friends / family, I was finally able to do a load of washing myself. It was great.”

Now that we are halfway through this winter, we can see the days getting longer. February marks 3 months into our Winter Survival Project, and we thought we would just give you a little update on how it’s all going.

We have managed to help over 60 people so far, which is incredible. Gabriella from The Artisan Bazaar has been running our practical makers workshops; making cook bags and draught excluders from recycled materials. Georgina has been running our Energy Advisors drop-in!

We are going to run another Women and Numbers course in March, and at the end of the month Georgina will be running an Energy Champions course! This Energy Champions course will give you all the practical skills and knowhow to understand your energy bills, where draughts are entering your home and mitigate that, how to reduce condensation in the home and know what grants are available for home improvements. It may even lead onto paid work as a freelance energy advisor.

The feedback from Gabriella’s workshops has been fantastic, so positive that we have decided to put more sessions on in February! Here is what some of the women have had to say about the workshops.

“I was impressed with what I made and surprised at how well it turned out using recycled fabrics. It was an education. I enjoyed it.”

Along with learning a practical skill, the women have commented on how lovely it has been to be in a space with likeminded women, having the time and space to connect with each other and how valuable providing a safe space for women to come together and share their experiences. We know that running your own business can sometimes be isolating, making these kinds of environments even more important.

We have also seen many women in the community come into our Energy Advisors drop-in service. Georgina, who runs the sessions, has connected many of our women to LEAP, the Local Energy Advice Partnership. This is a great resource for people to get advice and assistance on how to save money on their energy bills.

I’ve recently got myself referred to LEAP. A knowledgeable and friendly energy advisor came into my home and helped me identify how and where I could cut costs, draught proof and reduce risk of mould and condensation. The service can even offer replacement of white goods, if yours are old and energy guzzlers. It amazed me that this service was free, I was given chimney balloon, some draught proofing under door slips, draught proofing for our letter box and some remote-control plug sockets. All on the same day! My home already feels less draughty, and these non-invasive measures are great for me, living in a rental property.

I feel confident referring anyone who may be struggling with high bills or a cold home.

But, you don’t have to take it from me. One lady who had an energy advisor from LEAP come to her house said that:

“It was fabulous, I actually understand how it [my heating system] all works and don’t feel as ripped off now I that have choice.”

Even though this project may seem a little off-beat for us, the feedback is reflecting how necessary this project is. Practical skills training is help to reduce feelings of isolation, build self-esteem, and increase feelings of autonomy.

The feedback has shown this is allowing women to better manage their own finances, reinforced with our upcoming Women and Numbers in April, and make informed decisions about their own lives.

So, definitely come down and see what is available to you whilst this project is ongoing! Our drop-in service at our offices on a Thursday, 12:30 – 2:30, at our offices in White Cross (742 Cameron House), call our offices at 01524 383846, or email megan@thegrowingclub.co.uk, to find out a bit more!

numbers-2023

English is important, but maths is importanter

by with No Comment Business educationNews

If you saw our Christmas newsletter you will have read this..

And finally, a heads up that 2023 will be the year we put lots of attention on numbers; from energy saving and understanding your bills, budgeting and getting out of debt. And to properly working out what to charge for your product / service. Because, to quote a quote that Cleona Lira sent me:

“English is important, but maths is importanter” 

And so this post is to tell you what we are offering, who for – and why.

Last January we ran a retreat all about women and money. The experience of how empowering that was, combined with seeing the interesting responses to the finances curriculum on both our start-up and growth programmes, we have come to realise that there is some fundamental work that needs doing around numeracy for women.

Understanding that whilst we all deal with maths every day, but if we believe that maths is scary, we are disempowered from fully participating in life, in the summer we trialled a series of 4 Learning Lunches called Women and Numbers. The aim was a simple exploration of the blocks that come up for women when it comes to numeracy, with Ebony Rebecca, of Rose Tinted Financial, very gently enabling us to face those.

We have now been awarded some DfE funding called Multiply, to enable us to deliver an exciting range of fully funded support for women in Lancashire who haven’t reached GCSE level C, and / or want to build their confidence around all things numbers.

We are delivering this work in 3 ways:

  1. In both January and February there will be a 4-session course to simply build your confidence with using numbers. Ebony explains more in this video.
  • On February 10th, we have an excellent workshop called Know Your Price, for all you women running businesses who struggle to work out what to charge. Full details and booking here  
  • One-to-One support.  In addition to the courses and workshops, there is also funded one-to-one support available. Either with Ebony, to address budgeting and debt, or with Viv Davenport for maths support to prepare you for your GCSE if you choose to go that route, and for applied maths for day-to-day life, such as understanding special offers when shopping, what size pizza to order, and your household bills.

And even better – everyone who participates in the Multiply programme will be entered into a prize draw to win one of these fabulous T-shirts from Ducon.

In addition to all that, we have the Winter Survival programme to help you reduce your energy bills. You can find out all about that here.

If you want help with anything around numeracy, please do get in touch with us via email to Rebecca@thegrowingclub.co.uk or call 01524 383846.

The Growing Club CIC designs and delivers employment and enterprise training and support for women

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angels-den-2022

Angels’ Den 2022

by with No Comment NewsWomen in Business

As you may have seen, on the 30th of November we held our 2nd Angels’ Den event, an evening that gave some of our start-ups the opportunity to pitch to members of the local business community, for skills support that will help them on their journey. 

The evening, hosted by the Health Innovation Centre, was a huge success which beautifully showcased the innovation and entrepreneurship that we see from women in our district. What’s more, the evening also exemplified the real sense of community and mutual support that we hold in such high regard here at The Growing Club.

Glyn Jones, who is the Partnership Development manager at the Health Innovation Campus, as well as one of our Angels, said:

“[Angels’ Den was] an inspiring celebration of the entrepreneurs (as previous ones have been). I also found it to be very “real” as in, no theories or officiousness, instead people building something positive and beneficial by virtue their own efforts and diligence with pragmatic support from The Growing Club community.”

We appreciate this feedback  –  the personal nature of The Growing Club is something we are incredibly proud of, and it is encouraging to hear that our approach of “it takes a village…” came across with the event.

Not only did our Angels value the event, but our pitchers did also.

Jenifer Ryder, of Model Club, said that whilst it was challenging, it was good for her – that the process has helped her to find the words to relate her business to an audience and that the help she was offered has already begun to propel her and her business forward.

Karen Belton from Two Tiny Makes said that the whole experience was extremely rewarding, and went on to say “I really do think that it is wonderful that local businesses want to reach out as Angels and support new businesses.  I can’t wait to meet up with my Angel in the New Year as I think it’s going to be a good jumping springboard to make my 2023 a success!” – once again highlighting the value of community-based support for businesses, which we try to foster through our work, both specifically through Angels’ Den and through our work in general.

Jane Twyman of Hedgepigs found the experience of pitching to be very affirming for her business, and alongside winning the “outstanding support” from our Angels, she also gained new contacts and customers!

We at the Growing Club also agree that it was an amazing evening, and we want to extend a huge thank you once again to everyone involved – our Angels, our pitchers, and to everyone who came to support on the evening too. Special thanks to Joanne Barlow of Access to Finance Lancashire for coaching and training our pitchers, Kelly Ann Sharp from Voice Work for providing vocal coaching beforehand and supporting on the night itself, and to Costal and Co for providing a low-carbon supper.

We look forward to holding more events like this in the future – with the success we have seen with this second event, we plan to host these every 18-months or so in the future, so keep your eyes peeled for the next opportunity!

If you would like to discuss how The Growing Club can help you, please contact us on 01524 383846

Picture-1

Winter Survival

by with No Comment NewsWellbeingWomen in Business

At The Growing Club we have always worked holistically with women, whether that’s women wondering “What Next?”, or starting, or growing their business, because we know how much women juggle in their life and how much they are impacted by external conditions. And I don’t need to tell you that we have gone from pandemic to winter crisis without an opportunity to catch our breath.

It was identified that during the pandemic women were hit the hardest, and we are seeing the same again. That means we all have to look out for each other right now. With the combined effects of a rising cost of heating a home, flus, COVID-19, we want to provide programmes for our women which will help to protect you this winter.

And that’s why it may look like we gone off piste with our new projects, but we know it’s all part of the support women need. And so, we are very pleased to share that, this winter, we have funding for 2 additional programmes this winter, to keep you warm, healthy and connected, and to make sure you have all the skills to understand your bills and make informed choices this winter.

Firstly, Winter Survival Programme

1. Extended Drop-in Service

Georgina Sommerville from Green Rose CIC will be at Thursday drop-in each week to discuss your own personal situation and what support you can get to reduce your household bills.

And she won’t just tell you and send you on your way.

Anyone on benefits or with a household income of £31k or under is eligible for a home visit. She is able to offer so much, so please come down and find out what you’re really eligible for.

So, if you’re struggling with high bills, a cold home, energy debt, or you’re looking to find out how to drop bills and increase comfort with simple measures, join us during our drop in service at our offices in White Cross on Thursdays. The kettle will be on, and Georgina will be able to talk through some advice and guidance to keeping warm and healthy this winter.

2. Practical makers workshops

Gabriella from The Artisan Bazaar will be coordinating makers workshops as well. These will be a warm, sociable, and practical space to learn how to simple bits which will help you to keep your home warmer and cut electrical costs out of second-hand items; draught excluders and nonelectric cook bags. We will be alternating week on week, one week doing draught excluders (a simple, but super effective tool for keeping a room warm), and the next week doing cook bags to reduce cooking expenses. These are bags which you can place a boiled pan into, and leave for a couple of hours. It will continue cooking to perfection.

The full list of dates can be found here:

Draught excluders:
9/12/22
06/01/23
20/01/23

Cook Bags:
16/12/22
13/01/23
27/01/23

And all of the equipment will be provided for you, along with hot drinks, snacks and soups! 

That these will mostly be in our training room in Lancaster. Please note we can pay your bus fare, as we know it can be super expensive, especially traveling in from rural areas.

Secondly, Women and Numbers

Alongside all that we are running a comprehensive Women and Numbers programme, primarily aimed at women in Lancashire who haven’t got GCSE grade C level 4. But if any of you are struggling with any numeracy issues, including understanding your bills, please do join us. Between now and the end of February we are running 2, 4-session courses (via zoom), one-to-one support and a pricing workshop to help you work out properly what you need to be charging for your products and services  – a big issue for many women in business.

This will be run by Ebony Rebecca, from RoseTinted Financial Services. We ran a Women and Numbers workshop in the past, it was very positive so we are delighted to be running it again, and taking it further. So, watch out for that in January.

In addition, we are providing a warm working space.

You can come to our training room Mondays and Fridays for free. Our only ask is that you ring up to check that there is space. It’ll be a warm space for you to go and to get on with your admin, and save on your own energy bills. We have to pay ours anyway, so you may as well benefit from it too. If you need any help over the winter, or if there’s anything more we can do please email us. Megan, in our office, will be coordinating this project so drop her a line if you have any questions about this initiative!

Emma drummond women and IT

A woman’s journey into the well-paid world of tech

by with No Comment Women in Business

At The Growing Club we work with women who want to make a change to their work situation. We have seen that, regardless of their skills and experience, many women in caring roles, myself included, end up in low paid work as the only way to balance all the demands.

Fellow Galgator, Emma Drummond, decided to retrain and join the well paid, but male dominated world of tech’. Here’s her journey :

I was on a career-type route through my twenties, which I very much enjoyed.  I like to put my all into my work, so I felt I couldn’t promise that consistency once I had my children and I took low-pay roles for over a decade.  Now, however, I am beginning a new career by moving into the ‘tech’ industry. 

Moving into tech is a measured risk as I’ve turned my analytical approach on myself and explored aspects of the varied roles I’ve held.  When I looked back, data analytical work was a driving passion throughout.  Several administration roles left me time to look at the information I accumulated, from course feedback scores to employment statistics, and a very repetitive day pattern was perfected to add a research project in the gaps. 

The pay of jobs in tech is astounding and I can expect to earn considerably more than I have ever as a PCR technician or administration assistant. However, joining a supportive team will be my priority as I juggle family with a more demanding and satisfying role. The tech industry is not known for its softer side, but I have met several employers recruiting “returning mums” as they have more potential and motivation. Simply by being older than the usual freshly graduated applicant means I bring many extra skills and experiences, and a greater knowledge of myself. 

In a practical sense, I’ve been preparing for the career move for a few years by undertaking a project creating computer codes which predict patterns in genes.  I’d looked at a few projects but getting an extensive grounding in R and Python was the reason I chose the project.  Working at a distance, including through the pandemic, was a real challenge as I had to not only self-motivate but also solve many problems independently.  This was both a boost for my confidence and evidence of my abilities for future employers.

The pandemic lockdown home-schooling taught me that I was stronger than I thought and that I needed to generalise my skills and make connections.  I’m currently broadening my coding skills at an intense, government-funded, coding boot-camp, CODE Lancashire. The course is built around the needs of local businesses for coders confident with languages, like SQL, HTML and Python, which guarantees my employability and usefulness.

Good luck in your job search Emma!

Angels' Den

Angels’ Den is finally back!

by with No Comment NewsWomen in Business

So, Angels’ Den is finally back! The event you’ve been waiting for, and the event we are so excited to put on again. 

The premise of the event is much like the popular show Dragons’ Den, budding entrepreneurs have a few minutes to pitch their start-up ideas to a panel of businesspeople. The twist here is everyone will be a winner. On the night, entrepreneurs from The Growing Club’s start-up programme, Roots and Shoots, will have a few minutes to pitch their start-up ideas to our panel of business “Angels”.

After all the pitchers have gone, the angels will discuss between them who can best support each woman. Everyone will be coming away with something, and it’s a great opportunity for businesses in the local area to support entrepreneurs, as what could be a small thing for one business could make all the difference to a start-up.

On the evening there will be fine company, an opportunity for networking, along with a buffet and some mulled wine, juice or hot drinks.

In the next few weeks, we will be announcing our angels. We have some familiar faces, welcoming back the support of the Chamber of Commerce, and some new faces as well. The offers from Angels are ranging from website design, accountancy, to business development and marketing strategies. So, make sure you keep your eyes on our social media accounts for these announcements, where you can follow these angels and see what there is on offer.

This event really encapsulates what we value here at The Growing Club, community, and mutual support. Mandy Blackwell, who organised the last Angels’ Den event back in 2018, said it was so special to her to have been involved in the organisation of the last event, and to be a part of an entrepreneur’s journey of starting out with an idea and seeing that idea come to life. For her now, it’s great to see years later that there are women who pitched and have businesses which are still trading.  

It’s an amazing opportunity to get that confidence boost which allows an entrepreneur to go self-employed.  Wendy Jones was pitched at our last Angels Den event and said that having the support from her Angel gave her that confidence to take that step and go fully self-employed. Also, having only 3 minutes made her home in on what it was she wanted. 

So, this is why you should come along to this event. The evening will be celebrating mutual support and be a great night of showcasing the amazing entrepreneurship and creativity which is here in Lancaster. It’ll be a special opportunity to be a part of a woman’s step towards realising her entrepreneurial dreams.

When: 30th of November

Where: Health Innovation Centre, Lancaster

Get your tickets today here

grasping nettles

The Art of Grasping Nettles

by with No Comment Business educationWomen in Business

A blog on courage, preparation and giving it a go by Jane Binnion

When I bottled my first brew of nettle cordial years ago, it was an experiment. I’ve been making nettle soup for many years because it’s highly nutritious and I just love free food, but this was a first for me and I had no idea how it would turn out.

Sometimes we have to do that though, right? We just have to have a go and see how it turns out even if we know we might get stung in the process. However, we can do things to minimise the pain too.

Courage yields results

Of course, nettles hurt. I fell into a ditch of nettles several years ago while cycling in rural China. It’s pretty nasty and hurts for a long time afterwards too. I still get stung when I’m picking nettles for soup, but I seem to have decided that it’s worth it.

But it got me thinking about the expression grasping nettles and what that means for those of us running a business or charity. It’s an expression that’s very meaningful to all of us. We know exactly what it would feel like to grasp nettles. So why on earth would we deliberately do it?

Well, there are a few reasons. If we don’t, they keep on growing anyway, but also look at what happens when we do pluck up the courage to grasp them. We may get stung but the results are great. When I eat this delicious soup or drink the cordial I can remember the stings, but I still feel really delighted with the results.

We can prepare ourselves for nettle grasping. It isn’t necessary to just rush in. Taking time to get organised can make it all a lot less painful. Nettle grasping is not an opportunistic task. If I was walking past a great crop wearing shorts, sandals and a T-shirt, I know that diving in would end horribly. When grasping real nettles I wear gloves, long sleeves and take scissors.

What are the nettles in your business or organisation that you need to grasp?

  • What is it that scares you about doing it?
  • What can you do to minimise the pain?
  • What will be the positive benefits of finally grasping those nettles?
  • Do you ever send others to grasp nettles unprepared?

As for the cordial, it was actually really nice. It’s very refreshing and far better than any bottled cordial you can buy. Well worth a few stings.

If you’d like to chat about how we can help you to overcome any fears or issues in your business, please do drop us a message here.

*This post was originally published on janebinnion.com and has been reproduced here with permission.