At Page & Bloom, we love being able to create floral arrangements for so many important moments in our customers lives, from paper wedding flowers to landmark birthdays. We’re proud that our paper blooms help save CO2 emissions from cultivating flowers abroad, and save books from going to landfill. But to us, the most important thing about our flowers is that every time you buy one you are supporting a woman back into meaningful employment after surviving domestic abuse. That's why we are launching a Crowdfunder for the first time!
"To be physically part of a team and doing things together has brought me a lot of hope and confidence."
Financial independence is crucial when you are starting to rebuild your life, but it’s full of really specific challenges for survivors. No one understands these better than the Page & Bloom team, because the majority of our staff have been through them. Perhaps you can’t attend job interviews, or even CV support services, because there are unexplainable gaps on your CV. Maybe you just don’t feel comfortable taking up the support out there because you’d have to deal with unfamiliar male staff. Or perhaps you can’t provide references from previous employers or provide qualification certificates because these were issued under previous names that you’ve had to change for your own safety. There’s also the stigma and ingrained fear of speaking out.
"I hadn’t had a job for years, I’d brought up my children, and felt my CV would look terrible. I was depressed and stuck, with my confidence draining away."
Our company is a social enterprise because this set up means that we can invest our profits into survivors’ futures. We do this through creating jobs, work experience, and our employability skills training programme, where we support women who might not be ready to start work but who still deserve to take the next steps towards rebuilding their lives. Depending on where women are in their journey this looks like crafting workshops, CV clinics, volunteer and paid work experience placements, tailored to support individuals on their journey.
"It’s better than a careers adviser, because this is real life."
We all know that times are tough at the moment. We’ve all got used to saying the phrase “cost of living crisis” a hundred times a day, so it’s no surprise that it’s also a pretty tough time to be a small business. Right now, sales are down, and it’s the non-profit parts of the business that are suffering. We have women our charity partners would like to refer to the programme, but at the moment we don’t have the capacity to support them.
So, this International Women’s Day we’re trying something we’ve never done before and launching a crowdfunding campaign for our employability programme! This campaign is an easy way for individuals or companies with the means to do so, to do more than voice support and actually make a real impact on a woman’s life
Women power Page & Bloom. Every person who comes through the business, at any level, praises the empowering, restorative experience of just being able to be around other women, and women who’ve had the same experiences as you, and be supported. This International Women’s Day, Madame Tussauds are celebrating with a brand new wax figure of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, an amazing tribute to women from history. With our campaign, we’re asking you to help us support women today.
"I've learnt so much: I've learnt how to make beautiful flowers out of paper, I've learnt about myself, I've got some self esteem, patience."
It costs £240 for a 3-month volunteer placement for a woman who for whatever reasons, personal, benefits, can’t take on paid work at the moment. For £60 we can run one of our drop in crafting sessions where women can come to a safe space and meet other women, as well as taking some time to reground themselves in the mindful activity of flower making. £5 will buy a pair of scissors – the first step for a woman on her flower making journey! Even if 100 people make a donation of just 1 pound, this will show the team that 100 people believe in their futures.
"It’s been a window of positivity for me through very dark and challenging times and has given me a sense of normality."
We’ve got all sorts of limited edition gifts available as thank yous for donating, from specially designed bouquets to personalised messages of thanks from the women that you’ve helped. For those who can’t donate right now, we’re just as grateful to anyone who shares the campaign with their friends or on their social media - we want to reach as many people as we can!
Whatever your financial or personal situation this International Women’s Day, we hope you find some way to celebrate. We’ve all been through a lot this last couple of years, and we all deserve to take some time to recognise that.
You can find out more information about the campaign as well as how to share over on Crowdfunder here.
And you can donate by selecting the amount below and clicking donate: