Clare and Oanh
Fundraising Brunch for Female Founders Raises Cash for Local Charity Sussex Cancer Fund
On Friday, 7 July 2023, 45 female founders from the local business community came together for a fundraising brunch and to learn about how to make our businesses more sustainable.
Hosted by Thrive and Barclays Eagle Labs, the brunch attendees heard from two inspiring speakers - Harriet Dean-Orange and Fleur Record-Smith.
Harriet Dean-Orange is the Founder of Harriet’s of Hove - a plastic-free, refill shop in Hove. Born from a passion for the environment and a desire to lower the amount of single use plastics in the world, Harriet’s of Hove now helps thousands of people to significantly lower their use of plastics.
Fleur Record-Smith is the Founder of Hayne House - a wedding and events venue based in Kent. Fleur successfully led her company to gain B Corp certification, and during this process, became even more passionate about sustainability in business. Alongside her events venue business, Fleur has now set up a specialist consultancy called Lead Inspire, advising small businesses on how they can become more sustainable.
Both speakers shared candid accounts of their business journeys to date, and highlighted how they have successfully built their businesses - keeping sustainability at the core of what they do.
The brunch was hosted by Thrive and Barclays Eagle Labs, who have been collaborating together to organise these brunches since 2019 - originally in celebration of International Women’s Day. Thrive is an impact-led business in Brighton on a mission to give female founders the knowledge, clarity and connections they need to grow a small, resilient business. Barclays Eagle Labs in Brighton is on a mission to support local start-ups and scale-ups access co-working space, mentoring, growth programmes, and incubators.
Founder of Thrive, Clare Griffiths, said, “The aim of these brunches is to shine a spotlight on the amazing work of female founders from the local business community. I always want the brunch attendees to leave feeling inspired, with some new ideas to implement in their own business, as well as some new contacts”. The overall purpose of Thrive is to boost the number of female-led small businesses in the UK, so that it is at least equal to that of male-led small businesses.
The brunch catering was provided by Smorl’s - a vegan café in Brighton Open Market. Like in previous brunches, last week’s brunch was served in reusable containers from Return Ware - a sustainable innovation of female founder, Oanh Brophy.
Funding raised totalling £172.50 will be donated to Sussex Cancer Fund - a local charity whose funds fulfil the needs of Sussex hospitals and provide support for cancer patients in terms of equipment, resources, research and facilities.
As well as receiving event support from Barclays Eagle Labs, Thrive was delighted to receive support from Another Way Women’s Foundation, a grant-making charity dedicated to enabling a brighter and fairer future for women and girls.
To find out more about Thrive, go to: https://www.thriveinbusiness.co.uk.