International Women’s Day: Networking Event at the HQ Building
Now that was a busy month! As an organisation we achieved a great deal in March and so did many of our partners and tenants. So we thought it only right to highlight a few of the events and people that made March so fantastic. The month started off with the networking event organised to celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day at the HQ Building.
It was great to see so many inspirational women in attendance.
We co-hosted the event in partnership with our tenants Social Enterprise Mark CIC and were treated to a very engaging presentation by Jenny Evans. Jenny works at YTKO as part of their fully funded Outset Enterprise Coaching programme that helps start-ups and entrepreneurs succeed and follow their passions!
International Women’s Day also gave us the opportunity to showcase some of the diverse female tenants here at the Millfields Trust as well as several members of our team.
Millfields Trust: Meet the Team
You might know many of our tenants here at the Millfields Trust but how about our amazing team? It’s time you got to know us all a little better. Business Development Manager Mandy Toze has been a key figure in our continued growth and success. “If anyone had said to me you’d be working in the same place for 22 years I would have laughed,” Mandy says. We know she means that in a positive way!
With International Women’s Day in mind, we asked Mandy which women have had the most influence on her life?
“My mum is the anchor of our family and guides us through all the ups and downs. She has subtly taught me many things and given me the strength to power on! I have passed those values onto my three girls who are all different in their own ways. But one thing we all have in common is perseverance and determination! I’m so lucky to have many strong, loving and kind women in my life.”
In March she achieved something truly amazing!
“I climbed Mount Snowden and naively thought it would be relatively easy! I have no idea why. There were times when I wanted to give up. I felt like I couldn’t go any further. I’m petrified of heights and walking along icy cliff edges was my worst nightmare. But with the amazing support and comradery, and a bit of tough love, I powered on through to the summit! The experience and views were just incredible.”
We look forward to seeing what Mandy has planned for the future.
Development Manager at Millfields Inspired Josanne Stewart who was born and bred in Plymouth shared a little background about herself: She has been in her current role for just under seven years and absolutely loves it! Josanne works with the seven primary schools of Stonehouse, taking the year 5 children out to different workplaces to allow them to explore lots of different industries and career paths.
Josanne said: “I am so lucky to have a job that I genuinely love. I meet so many amazing people and organisations who share the same passions and desire to help children. Many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds”.
Millfields Inspired: Widening Horizons programme
The Widening Horizons Programme is a vital part of Millfields Inspired and in March they welcomed a new company to the programme, Cattewater Harbour Commissioners. St Andrews Year 5 children were the first to experience this trip and wow, what a great time they had! They met Rich Allan, the Harbour Master; Mark Parlett, the Finance Manager, Sandra, Steve, Cameron and Emma who all have fascinating jobs in and around the Cattewater Harbour. The children found out lots of interesting things and learnt about which goods are shipped into and out of Plymouth by container ships and other vessels.
Millfields Inspired continues to build new partnerships here in Stonehouse and Plymouth, and if you would like to get involved, or donate, head over to the website and find out more.
Meet the Community: Stonehouse and Plymouth
In March we reached out to other organisations in Stonehouse and Plymouth because we wanted to meet the community – to find out what other Social Enterprises and CICs were doing and to share any relevant events.
We connected with Plymouth Sound National Marine Park and discovered that for the next 12-months, the Marine Park team are developing a series of exciting activities to increase engagement with Plymouth residents. They want local people to get involved in determining the future for the area.
YTKO told us how Plymouth residents could get their business idea off to a great start with up to £500 of grant funding! And that professional 1:1 support available with one of their local advisors.
As the warm weather arrived Pollenize CIC launched a city-wide campaign, Seeds For Schools project which will equip every school child in Plymouth with a FREE packet of native wildflower seeds. Approximately 36,000 students. In April they will deliver the seed packets to all 82 schools across the city to celebrate World Earth Day on the 22nd April 2022. This will be Plymouth’s first-ever mass sowing event!
Have you ever wanted to do a bit of DIY but didn’t want to invest in buying all the tools? Well, we found out you don’t need to! Head over to Borrow Don’t Buy Plymouth’s Library of Things and check out their inventory of products that you can borrow for a designated period of time. There are so many benefits to reusing products and in their own words, “You should have access to the things you need without costing the earth!” This is also a reference to the Borrow Don’t Buy’s commitment to Plymouth’s 2022 Climate Emergency Action Plan.
And right here on our doorstep in Stonehouse, we discovered that Leadworks, provides so many invaluable services to our local residents including a community fridge, affordable exhibition and event space for a range of grassroots community organisations/individuals and artists. At its core, Leadworks exists to serve the community of Stonehouse. One of their first collaborative projects was the creation of the Public Living Room which is an open invitation for the community to come, sit, chat and just belong.
Millfields Trust: Office Space and Light Industrial Units
That was just a snippet of what we experienced in March and we hope to continue building new relationships in April as well as sharing as much community information as possible. If you have an event coming up that you think we should know about, please get in touch and tell us about it. And for all other Millfields Trust information concerning available office space and light industrial units across our four locations in Stonehouse, head over to our website and book yourself a no-obligation tour of the Genesis, HQ, or Mary Seacole Building, as well as Creykes Court.
Photos by: Summit Imagery and Established By Her Marketing