Together was born out of a few businesses in Kent businesses wanting to promote small businesses working together to get through COVID-19 with as minimal damage as possible. The idea was to make a community of small businesses who are willing to help each other and continue networking even when in self-isolation.
It started on 14th March 2020 and as of writing this article (19th March 2020) there are 500+ people in a Facebook group all sharing amazing information and articles to help each other through these hard times. The phenomenal community spirit and willingness of every member to help each other has snowballed this group too much bigger than any of us expected.
What are we going to do next?
The big motivation for all of this is to give small businesses value to help them through this hard time. We want businesses to continue to network, continue to learn and continue to grow. We also understand that because of the stress this period will bring, it’s super important to keep spirits high and pay attention to the health and wellbeing of ourselves and those around us. Because of this, below is what we are planning:
Morning Movement
We will host a 15 minutes light exercise session to start your day on the right foot. 9am each day in our Facebook group [https://www.facebook.com/groups/togethernetworking/] we will have different people host a small class to get you moving and invigorated for the day ahead. So far we have pilates and yoga lined up but are always looking for more fitness professionals to step up and help.
Lunch & Learn
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we will have a topic with an expert speaker to guide a webinar session. They will then be joined with other experts to answer questions and discuss the topic further.
Wellness Evenings
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, guests will help you relax and get in the right headspace to finish your day. This will be at 6pm, the perfect time for you to finish your work day and start your relaxing, stress-free evening.
Blogging
We are looking for guest bloggers so we can keep a steady stream of blogs released for the benefit of small businesses. This is a great way for people to give out their expertise to help other businesses that might be struggling. If you are interested in blogging, please get in contact.
Community Growth
The community has grown at an incredible rate and we are wanting to keep this momentum going. We will continue to promote discussion provoking posts in our Facebook Group , trying to get as many other businesses involved as possible.
YouTube
We will be putting every Lunch & Learn webinar onto a YouTube and our website so you can still catch up if you missed one. Be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel to not miss out.
Free Service Directory
There have been a lot of amazing people and businesses out there giving away free services to help those struggling through this time. We wanted to make a place where they are all listed so have set up a directory for you to look through
How you can help
The amount of people who are looking to help us with this project have been mind-blowing and I am sure there are more of you out there who want to help.
If you are looking to help we ask that you join our Facebook Group and start engaging with the community and giving value.
If you are looking to guest blog, be listed on the directory or get involved with any of the webinars, please go over to the Facebook Group and get in contact with one of the admins.
Welcome to the community everyone feel free to comment here and if you haven’t already, please join our Facebook Group.