An invitation to a Mumpreneurs
Networking Event in East London as part of Business
Mum Week 2009!

Wednesday 7th October 12 noon to 2pm
Venue: Ping Pong Dim Sum (Private Room) 3 Appold Street London EC2A 2AF
tel: 020 7422 0780 Nearest Town: London

Informal networking lunch for mumpreneurs/ businessmums and women
running or interested in running their own businesses, come along and
meet Antonia Chitty, author of The
Mumpreneur Guide, who will be giving her top tips for mumpreneurs.

Antonia Chitty will have a prize draw for her book, The Mumpreneur’s
Guide, retail cost £18, and some other prizes, so bring your business
cards to enter the draw!

Alison Rothwell, of the SEO Training Club, is also going to attend and
give her tips on Twitter for business.

Lana Hersak-Mullins, Business Counsellor for the East London Small Business Centre
will give a short talk on what is currently on offer to entrepreneurs
in East London, and will be happy to answer any questions women might
have about starting up a small business.

The event, in the gorgeous private dining room at Ping Pong Dim Sum (www.pingpongdimsum.com),
is free to attend although you will have to pay for your own lunch,
however the menu is very reasonably priced and delicious! Free copies
of eco-directory The Book of Green
and the Business
Mums Journal will be available to take home.

We all
want and need to make changes to help protect our health and environment, but with
an ever increasing minefield of green and ethical claims out there, it can be
hard to know which brands we can really trust and those which will really make
a difference. Independent and respected awards and accreditations give an easy
way to weed out the true green brands.

The
organic and natural feminine hygiene brand, Natracare, has once again been
recognized for its ethical and environmental credentials having been given an
award from the Ethical Company Organisation, a fully independent endorsement
which outlines the ‘premier league’ of genuine corporate social
responsibility and ethical companies. During the analysis Natracare achieved an outstanding Ethical Accreditation
Index score, which places it at the top of the table for the Sanitary
Protection sector.

The
Natracare brand philosophy has always been to provide products that never
compromise health or the environment. Many brands of sanitary protection contain crude oil
plastics, synthetics, harsh chemicals and even dioxin residues, which can cause
intimate irritation for women and thousands of years of pollution for our
global environment. All Natracare tampons, pads, liners and wipes are 100%
chlorine-free, plastic-free and crude oil derivatives-free. In addition to the
new Ethical Award and a Women in Ethical Business award, Natracare is the first
feminine hygiene brand to have obtained an International Environmental Product Declaration (EPD^[1]) a
scientifically validated, independently-assessed life cycle analysis which
determines the carbon footprint of the products as well as a Green
accreditation officiated by the Nordic
Ecolabel organisation. The
entire range has been awarded the LOHAS award
for its environmental and sustainable criteria. The comprehensive
Natracare range is designed so that certified organic 100% cotton is next to
your skin. The range includes Soil Association certified Organic 100% Cotton
tampons with and without applicators, organic and natural Ultra pads and Panty
Liners, Organic Cotton Intimate Wipes, Organic Cotton Baby Wipes, Nursing pads,
Maxi pads and Dry & Light Pads for sensitive bladders.

Tabitha Potts, a local home business owner, from London has entered The Remote Worker Awards, in association with BT Business, and hopes to achieve national recognition if she wins so she can inspire Mums to run their own business from home.

When Tabitha came across the Awards, she couldn’t resist the opportunity to win the fantastic line up of business support prizes for her home business, which sells eco-friendly children’s clothes, toys and furniture.

Tabitha and Mimimyne (Me Me Mine Ltd) now join the other entrants in a national search in The BT Home Business Award to find the most innovative business that demonstrates how remote working and home working has made a beneficial impact on their business and home life.

The BT Home Business Award appealed to Tabitha because it is
supported by so many sponsors and has been organized by a company
(Remote Employment) dealing specifically with home or remote workers.
Tabitha feels that the Awards will help to raise her profile to attract
potential customers as well as upgrade her small home office space to
work more efficiently.

Tabitha said: “I would also love to be
recognised as a Mum who runs an eco-friendly business from home because
I hope it will inspire other women like myself who are hoping to make a
living working from home, start a successful business and raise their
children without compromising their family life.”

Tabitha’s Home
Business considers the environment at every step and implements green
business practices wherever possible. She supports a local charity, the
Spitalfields City Farm, and run a community playgroup, Paintbox in
Stepney, which has recently been given a grant to build an organic
garden for inner city children to learn about planting and growing
vegetables.

Everything she sells is either made from renewable
resources (FSC certified paper, for example), recycled, certified
organic (all the cotton garments sold are organic and many use organic
printing inks and are printed in the UK), hand-made in the UK or Fair
Trade.

Tabitha seeks out independent UK designers, particularly
the vibrant creative community of the East End, who work in sustainable
ways to create exciting, modern and funky designs for children.
Examples are Sam Morgan of Spinifex, whose recycled cardboard Splat
chair (incorporating postal tubes) is going to be exhibited  at the
V&A Museum of Childhood, and Kerri Sellens of Creative Charlie,
whose eco friendly kids craft kits are made in the UK of either
recycled or reusable materials.

Along with a trophy to honour
the home worker of the year, Tabitha stands the chance to win an array
of prizes to improve her ‘home business’ as well as the wonderful eco
garden office in the Vivid Green Award.

The big attraction for
Tabitha is the range of fantastic business support prizes on offer and
she can’t wait to get her hands on what she calls a ‘perfect package’
of IT, HR, PR, Legal and marketing advice.

Paula Wynne, founder
of Remote Employment, an online job site specialising in remote and
home working, and organise of The Remote Worker Awards, said, “We are
looking forward to changing lives when we give someone their own home
based franchise worth £15k, five others a business kit and three others
a brand new career with the Open University Skills Award! The Awards
comes at a time when the British public need uplifting. We want to
celebrate the inventive pioneers who champion home working and show the
UK why more enterprises should give it a go!”

There are other categories including The Remote Worker Award and The Remote Employer Award.

For your chance to win one of these fantastic awards, enter at www.remoteworkerawards.