FINDING THEIR VOICE

The Wren Bakery was founded by two Leeds women, Emma Flint and Clare Sanderson. Clare tells us about their valuable venture to empower women here.

The Wren Bakery is a social enterprise offering training and employability skills to women in Leeds for whom the challenges they face have a devastating impact on their lives and their ability to work. Women who live with domestic violence, criminal records, addictions and poor mental health, everyday face barriers that exclude them from participating in society.

Here at Wren, we believe in second chances and see the potential in every one of the women we work with. We seek to empower and equip these women, giving them the tools they need to build a better future for themselves.

We’ve taken our name from a tiny bird, the wren. We love the image and personality of the wren. The wren is one of our smallest garden birds but has the loudest of songs. They are plucky, determined and brave birds that often go unseen. We can all identify with the little wren - our hope is that our training programme enables women to find their voice and confidently use it.

“I went through a domestic violence relationship for years. I’d completely lost myself. I’ve found a love for baking again, something I used to have when I was younger. The baking part is fantastic but the support they provide is amazing.’’

‘’It’s been life-changing. felt like I was just existing before, but now I feel like I’m living!”

Together we shared a vision and ambition to build something new for local women. Emma had worked for the Joanna Project for 8 years, and I was a trained mental health social worker. A weekend away provided the ideal opportunity to share our vision and what started as a small idea between friends soon grew into a bigger idea. An idea that we could combine our skills and experience to make a real difference to women’s lives. A trip to London to visit Luminary Bakery and chat with its founder, Alice, gave us the confidence to start writing a business plan and seek initial funding. A year later we were welcoming our first trainees to The Wren Bakery.

Starting out renting kitchen space in a local community centre and renovating a 1960’s Citroen H Van to take to local parks and markets with our trainees, the charity has grown rapidly in 3 years. It is now based in Mabgate Mills in Leeds, where we have opened a wonderful venue that serves as a thriving cafe and training base.

Our training provides a safe and supportive environment for women to make steps towards employment. We use baking and barista training as tools to develop opportunities for our women and to give them valuable transferable skills. We invest in their well-being, supporting them to be healthy in life and work. We are a fabulous community of women, journeying together, facing our fears and doing it anyway!

‘’I feel it’s given me the confidence to get through things didn’t think I could before. I’ve been written off for years by people, and now feel have a good future ahead of me.’’

Words: www.thewrenbakery.com