The event, to mark the launch of the ‘Women and Broadband Challenge’, will be held at Shropshire Conference Centre in Shrewsbury between 9am and 3pm.
Hosted and organised by Women in Rural Enterprise (WiRE), the conference programme includes a host of inspirational talks and seminars from women who have already used social media, cloud technology and online marketing to set up or grow a successful business.
The Shropshire Women and Broadband Challenge has been launched by WiRE thanks to funding secured by Shropshire Council, and is open to female business owners or would-be entrepreneurs who live or work in the Shropshire Council area.
The challenge runs until March next year and will include a programme of training workshops in subjects such as Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram as well as filming online videos for business, and making the most of cloud technology. These workshops will be delivered at venues across Shropshire. Women can also be matched with a mentor for on-going support as they start to use some of the new technologies.
The funding was secured from Broadband Delivery UK and the Government Equalities Office in order to encourage women to take on the new digital technologies which are possible with superfast broadband, and is linked to Shropshire Council’s broadband delivery programme, Connecting Shropshire.
Fiona Davies, of WiRE UK, explains: “This is a great opportunity for women of all ages to come along, meet like-minded people, and boost their confidence in using online technology. You don’t have to be a business owner – you might be considering starting a business, or you might just be thinking about returning to work after a career break for example. We want everyone to feel welcome and we will be encouraging everyone to ask questions in an open and friendly environment.”
She adds: “We’d encourage all local women to join the WiRE broadband challenge and book to attend the conference, register for help from a mentor, or come along to one of the many different seminars available. Simply visit www.wirechallenge.org and book for free!
Shropshire Council Deputy member for broadband, Tina Woodward, adds: “This project aims to enable and to assist women to take advantage of the faster broadband networks we are building to grow and improve their business or even start-up a new business. We have great partners to deliver the service with experience in the field.”
There are estimated to be more than 1.5 million female business owners and employers in the UK, with a recent surge seeing female-owned enterprises account for 80% of new businesses started between 2008 and 2013.
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