Eastbourne woman sets up new female-focused initiative

A woman from Eastbourne has launched a new initiative for women focused on careers and business.

Lucy Butt, who has a background in events and charity work, has set up The Hive – a space she says women can ‘get together, build a community and encourage one another – all centred around careers and business’.

Events arranged by The Hive so far include supper clubs and panels.

The first panel, in Bodega in Station Street on September 23 from 7.30pm, focuses on starting a business with four female business owners sharing their experiences – Ruth Marsden (founder of Bettercup), Gabriella Chamberlain (managing director of Essential Beauty Skin Experts), Chantel Hargreaves (owner of Mashona Designs), and Sarah Parker (owner of Blossom & Bear).

Lucy said, “My hope is that it creates an environment for females to thrive in their careers and businesses, supporting each other along the way.”

In terms of coming up with the idea of The Hive, Lucy said she saw ‘great opportunities for working women to build a community together’ when she worked in London, and wanted to create a similar environment in Eastbourne.

She said, “I wanted to create an environment for women to do just this - cultivate, collaborate, encourage and build - but making it fun and light-hearted.

“Our events always involve great food and drinks - I really think food can be a great way to get people together, breaking down barriers and enabling free flowing conversation.”

She said guests are encouraged to donate an additional ticket so those struggling financially can join in too.

In terms of what’s coming up this autumn, Lucy said it’s about ‘educating and inspiring women’.

She said, “Essentially we want to see women empowered to launch the business they’ve always dreamt of, apply for the promotion they want and generally thrive in their careers.”

The Hive is growing ‘really organically’ according to Lucy. She said she’s working out what women in Eastbourne want and working off feedback to create the best community she can.

If you want to find out more about the ‘Starting a business’ panel go to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-hive-autumn-series-tickets-167505939775

Lucy’s other organisation helps survivors of human trafficking.