Online workshops designed to help small businesses hit the ground running as lockdown restrictions ease are being offered by Viridor’s Community Benefits teams throughout Glasgow and the Clyde Valley.

Following a successful pilot last year which saw 112 companies sign up to the free workshops offered by Viridor, a new programme of events has been announced.

Designed to support businesses across Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and North Ayrshire, the workshops will help participants manage the many challenges faced thanks to COVID-19 and empower them with practical advice which they can implement immediately.

This past year has brought to the fore the importance of health, be that physical or mental health, and Viridor has reflected this in its programme organising sessions from returning speaker, Anita Douglas from Bouncebackability to discuss Resilience and Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Awareness. A session on the Power of Routine will be delivered by Geoff Nicholson from GN Coaching.

Other areas range from Intellectual Property & Funding for Growth delivered by Business & IP Centre Glasgow which is part of Glasgow Life, to Returning to Work Safely, delivered by Natalie O’Hare from BeyondHR who returns for the second year.

Chris Cassidy from Cassidy Financial Solutions will deliver a session on financial planning, while Viridor’s own Ewan O’Hara will discuss Health and Safety for small businesses.

 These carefully chosen topics should provide solid advice to help small business owners get up and running after a difficult 12 months.

A list of the confirmed online workshops include:

• 15 April, 10am to 11:30am - Start with the end in sight: financial planning through COVID and beyond. Delivered by Chris Cassidy, Cassidy Financial Solutions
• 20 April, 10am to 11am - Resilience and Emotional Wellbeing. Delivered by Anita Douglas, Bouncebackability
• 22 April, 10am to 11:30am – Power of Routine. Delivered by Geoff Nicholson, GN Coaching
• 29 April, 10am to 11am – A safe return to work and the considerations after lockdown. Delivered by Natalie O’Hare, BeyondHR
• 13 May, 11am to 11:45am – Intellectual Property & Funding for Growth. Delivered by Business & IP Centre Glasgow (Part of Glasgow Life)
• 19 May, 10am to 11am – Mental Health Awareness. Delivered by Anita Douglas, Bouncebackability
• 25 May, 10am to 11am - A safe return to work and the considerations after lockdown. Delivered by Natalie O’Hare, BeyondHR
• 3 June, 10am to 11am – Resilience and Emotional Wellbeing. Delivered by Anita Douglas, Bouncebackability
• 6 June, 10am to 11am – Health and Safety for small businesses. Delivered by Ewan O’Hara, Viridor

Karen MacCormack, Community Benefits Officer, Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre (GRREC) in Polmadie, said: “We’ve recently passed the one year working from home mark for many and so we wanted to bring our community together virtually and provide them with the chance to learn useful skills and arm them with practical information they can implement to put their best foot forward as restrictions ease.

“We are excited with the line up we have so far and will be announcing more workshops in the coming months. We are always on the look out for new contributors, so businesses who think they might have a specialist subject they’d like to share with our community should get in touch. Our virtual workshops are a good way to get in front of Viridor’s network of SMEs and Social Enterprises across a number of local authorities.”

Viridor is committed to supporting the communities in which it operates and since 2013, the Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre (GRREC) in Polmadie has facilitated 180 workshops with 906 businesses benefitting as a direct result. The Clyde Valley project has delivered over 45 capacity building workshops to Clyde Valley based SMEs and social enterprises since March 2019.

To register for a place on any of the workshops, or to discuss running a workshop as part of the series, please get in touch via email [email protected]