Energy Matters | Issue 10 | 2022
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F E AT U R E www.elmhurstenergy.co.uk
Elmhurst launches mentoring scheme for women Fiona Wilson, Business Development Manager
roles. Therefore we were very excited to open applications for the scheme on 12th July, starting with a small pilot group in the first instance with the view to opening it out to a larger group if successful.
How we got here
Elmhurst is delighted to announce the launch of its first mentoring scheme for women. The pilot scheme is open to 5 mentors and 5 mentees from any strand, where participants will have the opportunity to grow their skills and confidence.
We decided to launch the scheme after seeing the success of the ‘Elmhurst Energy - Women working in energy efficiency’ Facebook Group, which provides female Energy Assessors with a platform to connect, post questions, and talk about their experiences. The group has nearly 200 members, where there are regular posts and lots of engagement. It’s open to all women working in the industry, so if you haven’t joined yet, find us on Facebook! It soon became clear from the discussions taking place in the group that there was a demand for a mentoring scheme, where participants could get support and grow in confidence in their
To give a bit of context, in 2021 we undertook a review of our membership stats and discovered that only 13.28% of our members were women. We also sent out a survey to find out what these members felt the benefits and potential drawbacks were to being a women in energy efficiency. Over the next year we set about holding online sessions with some of our female members to talk about some of the points raised in the survey, and the steps that Elmhurst could take to help. From the conversations and feedback there were two key areas that were raised; safety and confidence.
Issues raised Safety, particularly for those in the existing build domestic sector, was raised frequently. The Suzy Lamplugh Trust provides safety information when lone-working and in personal
