News / Women in Business
Female-led social enterprise celebrates supporting 300 mums back into work
The south Bristol-based Women’s Work Lab has reached a milestone by supporting over 300 mums back into employment since its launch in January 2020.
The all-female-led social enterprise has been helping unemployed mums and those on benefits back into workplace in the area.
It has unveiled plans to support further 185 mums across the South West in 2024.
To mark the milestone, the Women’s Work Lab CIC has unveiled a new brand look. The rebranding reflects the Lab’s evolution, embracing a fresh visual identity and messaging that embodies its core values of ambition, compassion and family.
On the rebranding and expansion plans, Camilla Rigby, co-founder and joint chief executive of Women’s Work Lab, said: “We are so proud to have now supported 300 mums across the South West on their journeys back into employment and are totally thrilled to reveal our new branding.
The brand’s new logo is a bee, an insect which is able to thrive and be productive despite challenging environments
“Bees symbolise so much of what we do; their world can also be challenging and yet they can thrive and be hugely productive in the right environment. Which is exactly what we hope to achieve for the mums we work with.”
The Women’s Work Lab works with mothers across the South West, offering free 12 month training, work placement and coaching programmes to women who are struggling to find paid work after having children.
The mums on programme have often faced multiple barriers to find work including surviving domestic abuse, single parenting, caring for children with special educational needs and their own health conditions.
The bespoke classroom training, work placement and career coaching programmes focus on building confidence, ambition and employability skills to make the participant mums “work ready”.
The bespoke training focuses on building confidence, ambition and employability skills to make the participant mums “work ready”
The specialist courses focus on unlocking potential and building confidence, ambition and employability skills. The organisation currently offers programmes in Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Somerset. According to their records, 68 per cent of mums supported during 2022 are now back working.
The rebrand came about as a result of Women’s Work Lab winning Oakwood Agency‘s International Women’s Day initiative, which offered £10,000 worth of strategic and creative time to local female-owned businesses who are helping to level the business playing field, supporting women who may not have access to the same resources as others.
According to the founders, the new branding, and in particular the newly designed queen bee and hive grid represent the Lab as an active, collaborative and communal space where mums can realise their ambitions.
Neil Sims, chief executive of Oakwood Agency, said: “At Oakwood, we are honoured to have worked with the Women’s Work Lab on this transformative branding journey. Our goal was to create a brand that not only reflects the Lab’s values but also inspires and empowers women on their journey back into work.”
Women’s Work Lab is also launching their brand new training offer for employer partners that will support them to attract, recruit and retain talented mums from diverse backgrounds.
In a bid to rehabilitate the company, they are also launching a new specialist “Reach” programme in Bristol, in partnership with the Nelson Trust, which will be supporting mums who are at risk of, or who have experience of the criminal justice system.
All photos: Women’s Work Lab
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