How Gifted Women got started…

Hello and thank you for reading our first blog post! It’s great to have you here and we hope this article gives you some insight into how Gifted Women got started and what we aim to achieve. 

I’m Jenny, Chair of Trustees

Gifted Women is a newly registered charity based in Plymouth, Devon. I approach this new journey surrounded by strong women - as a small business owner I have an amazing group of female colleagues who inspire me every day, and I’m also a mum of three girls who I’m sure are set to make their mark on the world in their own unique ways! 

In my work life I have worn many hats but most significantly, before running my own business I volunteered in drug rehabilitation both abroad and in the UK, and worked professionally in the field of youth offending in Plymouth - supporting young people to find their path and try to break the often intergenerational cycle of offending. During that chapter I completed a diploma in Drugs Counselling and a foundation degree in Youth Justice, but more importantly, this work instilled in me a deep desire to see people succeed against the odds.

After 4 years at the Youth Offending Team and starting a young family I found myself seeking a bit more flexibility and a creative outlet. I started my own business from home which soon grew to having a small handful of employees, renting a premises and so on. The business became successful and stable but it didn’t give me the same fire in my belly as my previous career working with people, and eventually we (my husband and I) decided to go back to the drawing board, and turn it into a social enterprise. We sell illustrated stationery online, and run an employment programme for women overcoming hardship – this is powered by the company profits. 

A passion for social enterprise.

My colleagues and I at our social enterprise ‘Hip Hip Hooray’

This is when the idea for Gifted Women was born – we saw very early on that the model of welcoming women into our team for a fresh start and a new opportunity really worked. We invited women to work in our business for a year of training and living wage paid employment. Women reported that the employment programme gave them increased confidence, lead to better mental health, helped strengthen their recovery (from addiction) and more. 

It also showed how great the need was. We could not create enough opportunities for all the women our referral partners wanted to send our way – our operation being too small and the number of women who were ready for this opportunity too great. 

We came up with a solution to this problem in Gifted Women, which takes a holistic approach focusing on confidence, wellbeing, and employability, paired with partnership working with local employers to create opportunities for women across the city. The Gifted Women programme is essentially a 6 month programme of group work coaching and work experience placements in businesses in a range of sectors. Our aim is that women will graduate the programme happier, healthier, stronger in their sobriety, upskilled, more experienced and ultimately ready for employment. Employers will also benefit by accessing a diverse and loyal workforce who have an incredible amount to offer their teams. 

Gifted Women exists for women in Plymouth who are overcoming addiction, leaving the criminal justice system and otherwise breaking the cycle of multiple disadvantage. This community of women experience many specific barriers both in finding employment and in thriving in wider society and so we recruited an experienced board of trustees - we have a group of people with expertise in different areas including addiction recovery, employability, project management and social mobility. (Meet the board of trustees here).

Kim, Gifted Women

We are also thrilled to welcome Kim to the Gifted Women team. Kim was the first woman to join the employment programme in our business and is an incredible source of knowledge and expertise and offers invaluable lived experience which will inform the Gifted Women programme at every level. Kim will be joining Gifted Women on a secondment basis to support women in an outreach, peer mentor and engagement capacity, being present for the group work employability coaching and offering support to women in their work experience placements too. 

What’s my vision for Gifted Women?

In my voluntary role as a trustee for Gifted Women, I bring insight into how businesses can play a key role in offering fresh starts and helping people to change the course of their life. I’m a visionary and an ideas person and I can clearly see the huge impact employers can have in their community. I can picture a whole city of employers who consciously cultivate safe and inclusive working cultures in their businesses, where women can thrive, achieve their true potential and smash a few stereotypes in the process. Teams that welcome people with different life experiences, and recognise the immense value of that. Business owners that lead with people being right up there alongside, if not before profit.

I know that with the right support and opportunities, this community of women are ready to join the workforce and I want to help bring this to fruition and level the playing field for women who aren’t currently equipped or even invited to be in the game..

You can contact me at info@giftedwomen.co.uk, or connect with me on LinkedIn to follow the journey. Thanks for being here and let’s get this show on the road!

Jenny