Simon Hammond, Chairman of Wealden Business Group (WBG), is pleased to announce that The Kent Foundation will be WBG’s nominated charity for this fiscal year.
The Kent Foundation helps young people start and grow businesses in Kent. Their services have been a lifeline to many young entrepreneurs who have had to overcome the impact of lockdown on their businesses. The Kent Foundation has been very proactive in supporting them through these stressful times. Supporting businesses is one of WBG’s central aims and supporting young entrepreneurs is particularly important to it.
Stuart Tanton, Chairman of The Kent Foundation, explains:
“The Kent Foundation (Charity No. 291559) has become an essential element of the business support community in Kent.
It supports innovative young people (18-30 years of age) to start and grow new enterprises, create employment, and contribute to the well-being of the Kent economy, ensuring young people and start-up businesses have the best possible chance to succeed.
To enable this we have created a thriving and supportive network for young business owners through the expertise and support of our volunteer business mentors to increase the likelihood of their businesses’ success.
Research shows that start-up businesses accessing mentoring support grow 3.5x faster.
The success of young entrepreneurs who are constantly pulled in many directions can be increased with the support of the right mentor.
Their role is to help the young business owners focus on priorities, improve investment in their own time and develop management and leadership skills, as well as make better informed decisions.
The Kent Foundation provides this guidance and support free of charge for young people starting and growing new businesses in Kent.
Young People in particular face many additional challenges over and above someone with more life experience but through our support, the activities we provide, and the on-going relationship with their mentor more businesses are succeeding.
Our vision for Kent: A thriving community of young entrepreneurs and business owners, growing the Kent economy with experienced and successful business mentors, and peer support.”
Like many charities, The Kent Foundation has had to dig deeply into their reserves over the last 18 months to support their young people. Because of this, WBG will be supporting them over the coming months by raising much-needed funds through member donations and fundraising activities.
To find out more about the essential work carried out by The Kent Foundation, please visit https://www.kentfoundation.org/
WBG welcomes applications for membership from business people whose business types are not already represented in the group– see https://wealdenbusinessgroup.co.uk/how-to-join/
Simon Hammond, Chairman
Wealden Business Group