Connect Programme- Our First Year

The Connect Programme has just celebrated its first year.

Wednesday 25 May 2016

The Connect Programme has just celebrated its first year. We are very proud of what Connect has to offer, making a valuable contribution to ensuring women reach their full potential and contribute fully to the NI economy. The programme supports women who are unemployed or economically inactive to enter, or re-enter employment, either by finding work or exploring self-employment.

Through Connect we offer 1-2-1 mentoring and specialist workshops on a range of employment and self-employment topics. We also support personal development such as confidence building, resilience and affective planning. Start-up training is delivered by our project partner, East Belfast Enterprise.

338 women registered to the programme in our first year. Of those 117 received direct support to achieve their goal of employment or self-employment. Connect is a very flexible programme. Workshops are half-day, fitting in with other commitments many women have. Women can attend as many or as few sessions as they feel they need. They can then tailor their support with a 1-2-1 mentoring session with an experienced, specialist mentor. The Connect website also offers a wide range of online resources including factsheets and templates.

Start-up training gives women an overview of everything they need to know when looking into self-employment. Training consists of 4 half-days across 2 weeks. Tailored mentoring is also offered to each participant to help them focus on where they are with their enterprise idea.

Connect is funded by the Department of the Economy (formerly Department of Employment and Learning), the European Social Fund and Belfast City Council.

Connect is a strategically important programme for Women in Business. We aim to support women at every stage of their career or business. Connect supports women at the very start of their journey.

If you or someone you know may be eligible and would like to learn more, please contact Vicky Moore- vicky@womeninbusinessni.com or 0845 607 6041.

Wednesday 25 May 2016