It was a huge pleasure to welcome 50+ women founders (and a few of their children) to our Summer Garden Party – the first chance we’ve had for a face to face gathering since January 2020.  We are incredibly grateful to the Equip Community Grant programme for making it all possible.

Thanks to the expertise and enthusiasm of our current cohort of founders who stepped up to run workshops, along with some phenomenal music and delicious vegetarian catering, it was actually more of a mini festival than just a garden party.  But the garden is undoubtedly one of the secrets of our networking success, with the Calthorpe near Kings Cross offering the ideal setting to relax and meet other women working through similar challenges.

Melanie Appleby (Bridge Insights and @melanieapplebydoula) shared her decades’ of experience in market research to help delegates to research their audience with confidence (and on a budget).   Here is a summary of her wisdom – get in touch if you’re struggling to get good quality information from your current market research questionnaires.

Since becoming a parent Melanie has also retrained as a doula, and is building an exciting new venture with a mission to help mothers plan successfully for their ‘4th trimester’  If you’re pregnant and trying to anticipate life with a baby (or an extra one!) please follow her on instagram for tips and support.

Daniella Bird (Space Positive) gave some great tips on designing your workspace, and a bit of audience participation to help keep you healthy at your desk too.

Daniella is an interior design expert with a passion for creating workplaces which enhance well-being.  With her new venture, Space Positive, she and her team work with mission driven organisations who need to redesign their office spaces to help their staff work safely and productively – please get in touch with her for more information.

Joygun Nehar (@joyinweaving) got everyone’s creativity flowing with her ‘Woven Together’ workshop.  Using weaving to make our names, we helped contribute to the Somerstown local history project, and tell the stories of our diverse identities.

If you’re starting a new venture, or making a big change to your career, we can help you to succeed.  Get in touch to find out more about our programmes, and if you’re eligible for a ESF funded place.