High peak women helped to unleash business potential

Women in the Staffordshire Moorlands and the Derby Peaks and Dales are being encouraged to unlock their business potential by Women's Enterprise, a new organisation aiming to help women who thinking about becoming self employed. The organisation has been backed by European funding awarded by Defra.

Women's Enterprise is one of the six umbrella projects funded by the

LEADER+ Peak Dales and Moorlands project. It works with rural women

to encourage them to consider working for themselves and offers a wide range of advice and support - including local workshops and business clinics at times and in places women can get to.

LEADER+ is a European Community initiative, managed in England by

Defra, that promotes dynamic rural communities and economies by funding grassroots projects, conceived and implemented by the communities that will benefit from them.

One woman being helped to set up her own business is Barbro Lindquist, a qualified dog masseuse who has just begun a Swedish massage business for dogs. Barbro is receiving a range of measures to support her new business including funding towards a portable massage table which will enable her to do home visits and marketing support, including posters and business cards. She is also hoping to set up a website with Staffordshire Women's Enterprise support.

Janet Brightmore, the Women's Enterprise Co-ordinator for Staffordshire said:

"Barbro Lindquist's business is exactly the type of service we are looking to support. It is innovative and has potential to be a really useful service in the area. We are looking at supporting a wide range of other potential business opportunities being run by women."

Barbro Lindquist explained:

"Dog massage is a well established service in America and in Sweden and Germany but I do not know of any others in this country although a number of other people do horse massage."

"In hill country like the Peak District there are a wide range of working dogs - sheep dogs, gun dogs and the like who are doing incredibly physical and strenuous work. My service will help ensure a dog stays happy and healthy for longer.

"The support I am getting from Women's Enterprise has been invaluable to get my business off the ground."