Pay-It-Forward grants available for female-led businesses

By The Growing Club CIC

27 Oct 2021

Jane Binnion talks about a Pay-It-Forward grant scheme operating for Women in Business in Lancashire, to help startups and existing businesses.

The Growing Club ran their first 12-month course for 10 women running micro-businesses as an experiment back in January 2016, and we started our 11th cohort on October 12th this year.

The women gather for this fabulous programme once a month in Lancaster, and although we have been asked to run our programmes elsewhere, we simply didn’t have the resources to be travelling around the UK to do that. 

Whilst we had women join us from all over the North West, the nature of women’s lives, coupled with chronic traffic issues means that face-to-face programmes aren’t for everyone.

And then, of course, came the pandemic lockdown, and we took the entirety of our work online within just one week. We learned that for some women, this made our work much more accessible to them.

So we had the crazy idea to spend a week in a recording studio and film all of the modules, for both the growth programme and the start-up programme, and condensing it into 6-months’ worth of bite-sized chunks. 

We know the pitfalls of e-courses: you pay a lot of money thinking it will motivate you to do it, sign up and then never complete. We’ve all been there, but we really don’t want that to be how women experience our courses, so we have combined learn at your own pace with monthly group work for accountability and to break that isolation, combined with our highly effective buddy system. 

Plus, like most of our work, being a social enterprise, the course is heavily subsidised. However, we also know that female-led businesses have had a particularly hard time during the pandemic and investing in a programme (even a brilliant one like this) can be a challenge, and so Boost – Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub – very generously provided a grant for Lancashire businesses who want to participate.

What is a Pay-It-Forward Grant?

This grant means that Boost pays your programme fees so you can participate and get your business healthy again and on a sustainable growth track. And then next year, when your bank balance is looking healthier, you pay-it-forward by paying for another woman to participate in a programme.

But, there is lots of free business support: why do we have to pay for this?

There is indeed lots of funded business support, but mostly that’s just 12-hours in total. Our experience suggests that women running micro-businesses need more than that at the best of times, but especially in this economic climate where so many women are very stressed and overwhelmed. Our programmes are run by and for women running micro-businesses, so we know what it’s like. 

Also, we don’t get government funding for our startup and growth programmes, and we choose to pay our trainers a decent living wage, just like we want you to be paying yourself for all your hard work.  

Participant Feedback

We trialled the e-programme last Autumn so that we could get feedback and tweak sections. Nikki Cookson took advantage of the Pay-It-Forward grant and joined the e-programme. You can read her experience of the programme here.

To apply for a place via the Boost Pay-It-Forward grant, please email Jane@thegrowingclub.co.uk

To see a taster of the courses, click here for our start-up course – Roots and Shoots – and here for our growth and sustainability programme – Bloom and Grow.

Latest news

1

Councils back Combined County Authority proposals Lancashire Devolution

Councils back Combined County Authority proposals

18 Mar 2024

2

Red Rose Awards honours best of Lancashire business Red Rose Awards Winners 2024

Red Rose Awards honours best of Lancashire business

15 Mar 2024

3

RfM Transform helps business park achieve carbon negative status HR Trends from RfM Transform (9).png.png

RfM Transform helps business park achieve carbon negative status

19 Mar 2024

4

Derelict Darwen site transformed into fully-occupied business park Mill Bank Business Park

Derelict Darwen site transformed into fully-occupied business park

18 Mar 2024

5

Ways to increase flexibility in the workplace Flexible Working LBV.jpg.jpg

Ways to increase flexibility in the workplace

18 Mar 2024

Background image for hub sign up block

LBV Hub

Reach 50,000 members of the Lancashire business community

Post your news
Post your events
Post your offers
Company profile
Social reach
Magazine coverage
Sign-up
Events
LBV115 Magazine Launch Event
DSC9389
Networking
20 Mar 2024

LBV115 Magazine Launch Event

Delta Hotels by Preston Marriott, Garstang Road, Broughton, PR3 5JB

16:00 - 18:00

Business Networking in Blackburn - BNI Vista
EVENT LISTING SIZING Vista.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
19 Mar 2024

Business Networking in Blackburn - BNI Vista

Hampton by Hilton, 2 Frontier Ave, Blackburn, BB1 3AL

06:45 - 08:30

Business Networking in Chorley - BNI Endeavour
EVENT LISTING SIZING Endeavour.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
19 Mar 2024

Business Networking in Chorley - BNI Endeavour

Oak Royal, Bury Lane, Chorley, PR6 8SW

06:30 - 08:30

Business Networking in Accrington - BNI Zeus
EVENT LISTING SIZING Zeus.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
20 Mar 2024

Business Networking in Accrington - BNI Zeus

The Mill House, Corn Mill Yard, Accrington, BB5 5HX

06:45 - 08:30

Business Networking in Lancaster - Eden Business Network
EVENT LISTING Eden Business Network.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
20 Mar 2024

Business Networking in Lancaster - Eden Business Network

The Borough, 3 Dalton Square, Lancaster, LA1 1PP

18:30 - 20:30

North West Apprenticeship & Careers Expo 2024
APP EXPO 23 IMAGE.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Exhibitions
20 Mar 2024

North West Apprenticeship & Careers Expo 2024

Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre, Preston, PR1 2HE

12:00 - 19:00

Business Networking in Preston - BNI Diamond
EVENT LISTING BNI Diamond.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
20 Mar 2024

Business Networking in Preston - BNI Diamond

The Marriot Hotel, Garstang Road, Broughton, PR3 5JB

07:15 - 09:00

The Allo Allo Comedy Dining Experience
Allo-Allo-Comedy-Dinner-Crow-Wood-Burnley.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Social
21 Mar 2024 - 21 Mar 2024

The Allo Allo Comedy Dining Experience

Crow Wood Hotel & Spa, Burnley, BB12 0RT

18:45 - 23:00

Creative Lancashire PowWow networking
Creative Lancashire icon.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Networking
21 Mar 2024

Creative Lancashire PowWow networking

Society1 Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

17:30 - 19:30

Business Networking in Lancaster - BNI Castle
EVENT LISTING BNI Castle.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
21 Mar 2024

Business Networking in Lancaster - BNI Castle

Vale of Lune RUFC, Powder House Lane, Lancaster, LA1 2TT

06:45 - 08:30

Business Networking in Burnley - BNI Kudos
EVENT LISTING BNI Kudos.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
21 Mar 2024

Business Networking in Burnley - BNI Kudos

Prairie Sports Village, Windemere Avenue, Burnley, BB10 2FU

06:45 - 08:30

Business Networking in Preston - BNI Brunch
EVENT LISTING SIZING Brunch .png.png
LBV Hub Networking
22 Mar 2024

Business Networking in Preston - BNI Brunch

Samlesbury Preston Hotel, Preston New Road, Preston, PR5 0UL

09:30 - 11:00

Advertise with us

Reaching 50,000 members, our print, digital and event platforms offer a fantastic way to raise your business profile and help you grow.

Find out more Lbv115 Online Graphic
Subscribe now

Weekly news bulletin