At the start of a busy day in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, Dr Dan Poulter was delighted to meet with Suffolk entrepeneur, Paddy Bishop, to learn more about his latest ventures in supporting and growing budding Suffolk entrepeneurs.
Shout About Suffolk has been established to help Suffolk entrepreneurs get best-practice support, mentoring and office facilities to help on their journey to becoming superstars. It aims to nurture the next generation of busines start-ups by providing support facilities, expert mentoring and networking opportunities spanning a 3-year incubation period, helping new businesses to become self-sufficient and ready to thrive on their own.
Joining Dr Dan and Paddy at the meeting was Debbie from Wednesday's Child - a social enterprise who has joined forces with Shout About Suffolk. Wednesday's Child reinvests its profits into supporting those with eating disorders and other mental health issues. It has at its core a subscription and gift box model, enabling the purchase of carefully curated gifts for those who need a well being boost or gesture of kindness.
In addition, the business also delivers events, training, certification programmes, supportive coaching activities for those in the midst of an eating disorder, and a vocational portal to enable a supported return to work or education. The business aims to raise awareness and understanding of eating disorders and helps others to become "cheerleaders" in helping aid mental health recovery.
Suffolk has a lot to shout about and Dr Dan was pleased to learn more from both Paddy and Debbie.