A former head of retail operations at Marks and Spencer’s has been sharing her wealth of knowledge with some ‘gifted’ social entrepreneurs, thanks to a Business Supporting Communities’ mentoring initiative.
Judith Barnsdale who has retired from her role with the retailer, has been working with Rhyl-based Community Interest Company Gifted.
The aptly named shop, based in the High Street, was set up by Lesley Wright and Victoria Owens to offer crafters a space to sell their work.
After receiving a great response from a temporary pop up shop in Prestatyn, Lesley Wright and Victoria Owens, who run the company, opened their shop in Rhyl in November 2012.
With support from Rhyl City Strategy and Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council’s (DVSC) Social Enterprise Officer the pair were then put them in contact with Business Supporting Communities (B2C) – a project funded by the Big Lottery and delivered by North Wales County Voluntary Councils, which works to help bring businesses and communities together.
“Having our mentor Judith opened our eyes to things we hadn’t noticed, for example we refurbished our premises and added extras that we probably wouldn’t have considered necessary such as lighting, but we couldn’t imagine not having them in place now,” said Lesley.
“We were given inspiration by our mentor and that little push that made us see things from another perspective and this has definitely benefited Gifted as a whole.”
Having taken early retirement from her senior role with Marks and Spencer, Judith moved back to North Wales and offered to share her experience through B2C’s mentoring initiative.
“I got in touch with B2C because I wanted to use my skills and keep my brain active. Having come from a very results driven environment, I wanted to use that focus to help community interest companies, like Gifted,” Judith said. “I have enjoyed working with them and think that the vision Lesley and Victoria have for Gifted is very achievable.”
Thanks to Judith, Lesley and Victoria now have big plans for the future, including expanding into nearby towns and holding craft classes.
“It is wonderful to see how Judith, Lesley and Victoria have worked together,” said Sarah Thomas, B2C’s project manager.
“This shows how well mentoring can work, by bringing in people, like Judith, who have a slightly different perspective, and able to offer advice wholly from experience.
“We look forward to seeing great things from Gifted.”
For more information about B2C, from mentoring to volunteering visit www.b2cwales.co.uk
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