March 2024
Celebrating International Women’s Day with Rachel Mostyn
We’re excited to be hosting a wide range of activities to celebrate International Women’s Day on the 8th March, aiming to inspire conversations and changes to make a real impact for women all year round. Our first activity of the year is our International Women’s Day panel event, taking place at Leigh Court on the 8th March.
We spoke to one of our panellists for the event Rachel Mostyn, Co-Founder and joint CEO of the Women’s Work Lab, to discover more about the work she does, and why she’s excited to get involved with International Women’s Day and inspire inclusion in the world of work and beyond.
Read more here
February 2024
Empowering women in the workplace: the importance of inclusion and support
Each year, International Women's Day reminds us of the need to recognise and support women. Not just in everyday life, but also in the workforce. Despite the progression that has taken place, women continue to be overlooked in employment, and that is especially true of mothers who are looking to return to work.
Ahead of our International Women’s Day event, we caught up with Rachel Mostyn, Co-Founder and joint CEO at the Women’s Work Lab (a Supporter of the Good Employment Charter) to understand more about the integral work they do to support women.
Read more here:
January 2024
Interview with Camilla Rigby
We recently spoke with Camilla Rigby, the Co-Founder & Joint CEO of Women's Work Lab, celebrating the milestone of supporting over 300 mothers back into employment since 2020. Camilla shares the organization's impactful journey and the recent rebranding initiative in collaboration with Oakwood Agency.
Sam Harrison: You’ve recently announced the remarkable milestone of supporting over 300 Mums back into employment since the launch of the Women's Work Lab in January 2020. Can you tell us more about the journey and the impact the organization has made?
Business West Blog: Read more here
June 2023
The project aiming to get mums across Bristol in to work
A project running in Bristol and across the South West is helping mums on benefits get into the workplace.
Women's Work Lab, was founded by Camilla Rigby and Rachel Mostyn in 2020 and offers classroom training, work placements and career coaching to women who want to boost their confidence and employability skills.
They have had success so far and by the end of 2023 the project is hoping to have worked with more than 300 mums, with a target of getting 60% of those in employment within six months of completing their training.
Founder Rachel told ITV West Country that the project was aimed at supporting all mums in the region.
"We needed to create something that was for all mums and particularly mums that might have faced significant barriers to getting back into work so for example survivors of domestic abuse, children with special needs or mums with their own health conditions," she said.
ITV News - read the full story here
April 2023
Could ‘returnships’ for mothers on benefits solve UK firms’ recruitment struggles?
Despite a slight fall in vacancies from the record highs seen in 2022, latest figures show that the UK still has more than 1.1 million job vacancies. This figure will not surprise employers around the country facing continuing staff shortages…
…Companies have traditionally targeted returnships towards highly-skilled talent. But a new type of “entry-level returnship” is now being launched – one that will see a FTSE 100 financial services firm target mothers on universal credit.
Billed as a UK-first, the scheme has been devised by the Bristol-based social enterprise Women’s Work Lab (WWL) in partnership with the investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown.
The Times - Read the full story here
March 2023
Budget 2023: Bristol mother hopeful over plan for childcare
Some parents in Bristol have welcomed the chancellor's plans to help parents who want to go back to work.
Charmaine expected Budget changes which would see childcare costs paid up front to parents claiming universal credit to be "really helpful".
BBC Online - Read the full story here
January 2023
Project helps Bristol Mums re-enter the workforce
A project helping unemployed mothers return to the workplace is aiming to support even greater numbers of women.
The Women's Work Lab, based in Bristol, offers free training courses to women who are struggling to find paid work after having children.
BBC Online - read the full story here
December 2022
More Mums back in employment through Women’s Work Lab
SIXTEEN North Somerset women who struggled to find a job after having children graduated last week from a free programme helping them return to the workplace.
North Somerset Times - Read the full article here
January 2022
Mums helped to get back into work after career break
MUMS who have struggled to find a job after having children are getting free help to return to the workplace.
Bristol-based Women's Work Lab has been supporting women in the south west after extended career breaks.
It is now expanding the scheme to North Somerset, with 30 places being offered through the launch of a new project in Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon.
Before joining the scheme Kelly Hetreed had not worked for 11 years, adding she "had put 'me' on hold for too long".
BBC Online - Read the full article here
March 2021
Lab fab for Sam
THE ground-breaking Women’s Work Lab is helping hundreds of mums on Universal Credit to boost their skills and find work.
The Bristol-based scheme, set up in 2019 by Camilla Rigby and Rachel Mostyn, combines training that fits around the school run with work placements.
Single mum Samantha Cuffy, 44, of Bristol, landed her first job in 11 years with the scheme.
She said: “The Women’s Work Lab gave me the drive I needed.”
The Sun - Read the full artice here
February 2021
These Mums rose back up like Phoenixes in their job share
Camilla Rigby and Rachel Mostyn, share the role of co-founder and co-ceo of the Women’s Work Lab CIC - which aims to support socially disadvantaged mothers, with little to no work experience, to find a career that works for them and their family.
Having faced their own challenges as working mothers, together they now help each other and other mothers.
Roleshare - Read the full article here…
November 2020
Breaking glass ceilings: Bristol’s women entrepreneurs
The Women’s Work Lab CIC supports unemployed mums aged 25+ and receiving benefits to become work ready. Our mums face challenges including domestic abuse, lone parenting, and children with SEN or home displacement.
Our bespoke classroom training, work placement and sponsorship programmes focus on building confidence, ambition and employability skills. We specialise in unlocking potential and laying the foundations for a brighter future. 2020 work placement partners include North Bristol NHS Trust, AXA PPP healthcare, Burges Salmon, Jacobs and the University of Bristol. …
Bristol Mayor’s blog - Read the full artice here
March 2020
Championing all women in business
… Another volunteer at the charter is Camilla Rigby, who has separately co-founded the Women’s Work Lab with Rachel Mostyn. It’s a programme offering workplace training and professional work experience which fits around school hours to socially disadvantaged and unemployed mums. The fact that it focuses on less privileged women specifically makes the programme the first of its kind in the UK. …
Bristol 247 - Read the full article here
February 2020
Bristol launches UK's first employment scheme to help mums get back to work
An initiative to help disadvantaged and unemployed mums back into work has launched in Bristol.
The Women's Work Lab is the first training programme of its kind in the UK and is aimed at helping women who have struggled to get a job after having children back into employment.
The programme includes a five-week course on personal development, confidence and employability skills, and five weeks of part-time, voluntary work experience at an organisation in Bristol. …
Business Live - Read the full article here