The RSA Trust and Enterprise Enfield

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The RSA Trust is a charity funded by surpluses created by RSA Island Village Limited in Enfield Lock.  It supports causes which have an impact on the local community and assists Enterprise Enfield by providing funds to enable the organisation to provide free first time business advice sessions to London residents as well as sponsoring annual Inspiring Women Start Up Programmes from 2008 (now known as the Female Founders Start Up Programme) 

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The RSA Trust Inspiring Women Start Up Programme is a 6-month course designed to empower women with the knowledge and skills to be ready to start their own businesses. Over the past 19 years, the scheme has supported over 450 women from Enfield, Haringey and Waltham Forest. From 2016 - 2021 the course was open to women throughout London, thanks to funding secured from European Regional Development Funding (ERDF).

 

Many former participants of the Inspiring Women Programme now have businesses which have been recognised for their achievements - winning industry and business awards.  The programme also enabled Enterprise Enfield to secure and deliver a Female Founders Accelerator Programme supported by J.P. Morgan.  J.P. Morgan were looking for organisations with a track record of supporting women in business to deliver their scheme and approached Enterprise Enfield having seen its excellent work and results. The 4 month Accelerator scheme allowed women from previous Inspiring Women courses to receive dedicated support to grow their existing businesses to the next level.  

 

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Success Story: Ela Teague, Cook, Eat, Joy

Inspired to combine her two passions of cooking and teaching, Ela Teague decided to open her own Indian cookery school. Having worked as a secondary school teacher for 18 years, she wanted to use her teaching skills to share her knowledge of the Indian food she grew up with and loves to cook. “Cooking for me has always been a real passion and coming from an Indian Gujarati household eating was just as important. There is no way you could leave our family home feeling hungry. The joy feeding people great food gives me is why I want to share my passion for food.”

 

She contacted Enterprise Enfield for advice about implementing her ideas to get her business up and running and was subsequently successful in securing a place on the organisation’s September 2019 Inspiring Women Start Up Programme.  The scheme, which is part funded by the European Regional Development fund, offers 3 months worth of start up seminars/ webinars with access to an expert Business Adviser - to empower budding entrepreneurs to get their enterprises up and running.

 

Ela found the guidance and support provided under the programme was exactly what she needed, “The Inspiring Women Start Up Programme was the perfect starting point for me. It gave me a clear introduction to writing a business model, marketing, finance and skills analysis.”

 

During her time on the Programme, Ela attended 8 Start Up seminars on a range of topics to enhance her business skills and knowledge in key areas including marketing, managing finances and business planning.

 

“One of the best parts of the course was meeting like-minded women who were able to listen and inspire me onwards and who continue to do so. The programme also gave me the confidence to talk about my business to others and network successfully. “

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Ela completed the Inspiring Women Start Up Programme in January 2020, and her business Cook, Eat Joy was launched in July 2020. As an early-trading business, she was then eligible to access a further 12 hours’ of additional business advice, webinars and support under the Inspiring Women Business Growth Programme, which included help to refine her business model with her dedicated expert Adviser.

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The cookery school adapted its services to offer Indian cookery classes online as well as local takeaway services. The range of cooking classes available include: vegetarian thali, dal masterclass, vegan classics, street food, Indian breads and design your own menu.

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For more details about Cook, Eat, Joy, visit www.cookeatjoy.co.uk

 

 

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