Growing More Than Sunflowers

"Let's do it again!"

Following the success of last year's sunflower challenge, Inspired Women member Valerie Munro (AKA Auntie Planty) planted the seed of a wonderful idea:

"Let's do it again!"

Back in February and March, members began donations for sunflower packs, planting seeds, and preparing for another season of growing, fundraising, and a little friendly competition.

What started as a simple sunflower-growing challenge has once again blossomed into something much bigger, bringing together gardening, fundraising, learning, community spirit, and plenty of sunflower updates along the way.

Over the past few weeks, members have been nurturing their plants, sharing photos, comparing growth, swapping tips, and cheering each other on as tiny seedlings have stretched towards the sunshine.

As with so many things at Inspired Women, it has become about far more than the flowers themselves.

This year's challenge is raising funds for two wonderful causes: The People Hive and the Hampton Inspired Hub Project: Young & Inspired Enterprises. Every sunflower planted is helping support projects that make a real difference to local people and our wider community.

We're also incredibly fortunate to have gardening expertise within our membership. Valerie has generously shared her enthusiasm, encouragement, and practical gardening advice throughout the challenge, helping many of us give our sunflowers the very best chance of success. Whether you're an experienced gardener or someone who normally struggles to keep a houseplant alive, there has been support available every step of the way.

And then there is the creativity.

Inspired Women member Janet Weight Reed, international artist, who sponsored a sunflower herself, surprised us with a beautiful sunflower-inspired painting. (See featured image and read Janet's blog here)

Janet's artwork perfectly captures the joy, colour, and spirit of the challenge and reminds us that there are many ways to take part, contribute, and support one another.

One of the things I love most about Inspired Women is how often this happens. Someone shares an idea, others join in, knowledge gets passed around, creativity emerges, friendships grow, and before long something much bigger develops.

In many ways, the sunflower challenge perfectly reflects what our community is all about.

A tiny seed, given the right environment, can grow into something remarkable.

The same can be said for ideas, friendships, confidence, and collaboration.

As we move further into the summer months, we're excited to see how everyone's sunflowers continue to grow. Some are already reaching impressive heights, while others are taking a slower and steadier approach. Either way, we're celebrating every stage of the journey.

After all, growth isn't a race.

We'll be sharing more updates throughout the summer, including photos, progress reports, and eventually crowning our sunflower champions.

For now, enjoy some of the progress photos so far and join us in cheering on this year's growers.

Until then, keep watering, keep encouraging, and keep growing.

We can't wait to see what blooms next. 🌻

A Season of Growth at Inspired Women

At last, it finally feels like spring is beginning to arrive.

The evenings are stretching out a little longer, there’s blossom appearing where there were bare branches, and after what felt like months of rain and grey skies, there’s a renewed sense of energy in the air.

And here at Inspired Women, that same feeling has been quietly growing too.

Over the past few months, we’ve welcomed a wonderful mix of returning members and brand new faces into the community. There’s been something really special about the atmosphere at our dinners recently, warm conversations, genuine connections, lots of laughter, and that lovely feeling of women supporting women in a relaxed and meaningful way.

Each event brings together women from different backgrounds, businesses, life stages, and experiences, yet somehow the room always feels welcoming, encouraging, and full of possibility.

Alongside our regular dinners, Inspired Creativities has continued to grow steadily too. These slower-paced evenings at the Hub are becoming a lovely rhythm within the community, a chance to bring a project, learn a new skill, chat over a cuppa, and simply enjoy creating together. There’s something wonderfully grounding about sitting around a table with busy hands and open conversation.

Our online workshops are also beginning to find their feet. Some are still small and intimate, but that’s bringing its own kind of magic, more interaction, more connection, and more space for genuine conversation and learning.

What feels most exciting is that Inspired Women continues to evolve naturally. Not through pressure or rushing, but through relationships, collaboration, consistency, and community spirit.

This year already feels full of possibility.

There are more collaborations emerging, more ideas being shared, and more women stepping through the door looking for connection, creativity, support, and inspiration.

Inspired Women has never been about being the biggest or busiest room. It’s about creating spaces where women feel comfortable to show up as themselves! Whether they come to network, learn, collaborate, make friends, or simply take a pause from the busyness of life.

So while the sunshine may still be warming up, inside Inspired Women there’s already a real sense that a new season is blooming.

And honestly? I can’t wait to see what grows next! 🌻

My Word for 2026: Service

Happy New Year Inspired Women!

As we step into a new year, and we hear & see all the 'new year new you' adverts, and all the pressure to set 'resolutions', I invite you to notice something different about how an Inspired Woman approaches intention setting.

I don’t do rigid resolutions.

Instead, I invite you to choose a word, as I do. Something that feels spacious, supportive, and alive. A word that can grow with us, rather than box us in.

Last year, my word was inspired by the Japanese concept of Oubaitori, the idea that we all grow at our own pace, in our own time, without comparison. That philosophy shaped so much of 2025: softer expectations, deeper compassion, and a real appreciation for progress that doesn’t shout.

This year, my word is Service.

And like all good words, it has layers.

Service to myself: listening to my energy, honouring my capacity, and accepting that I can’t do everything at once.

Service to others: showing up where I’m most needed, in ways that feel grounded, purposeful, and sustainable.

Over the past year, my work has naturally evolved. Alongside Inspired Women, I’ve stepped further into employed roles with Curves, 21&Co, RUILS, and United Response. All these roles have elements of supporting people through movement, care, community, and practical help. From being a circuit coach to a support worker, service now runs like a golden thread through my working life.

This doesn’t mean I’m closing the door on my self-employed work. Body Confidence Wellness is still part of me, just no longer front and centre. I’m not actively promoting my coaching work (because I can’t do everything) but if someone comes to me and truly wants support, I’ll always make space where I can.

I’m still practising Reiki. I may even teach this year, or I may not, that feels like one for divine timing. In the meantime I'm still very much working with 1:1 clients and monthly Online sessions.

And Inspired Women? I’m still 100% committed. This community matters deeply to me, and nurturing it is one of the most meaningful forms of service I know.

Choosing Service as my word isn’t about doing more.

It’s about doing what matters. With intention, boundaries, and heart.

If you’re feeling called to choose a word this year, let it be one that supports you. Not one that pressures you. Not one that demands perfection. Growth happens when we honour where we are and serve from that place.

Here’s to a year of meaningful service, in all the ways that truly count. And a year of beautiful meaningful connections through all we do at Inspired Women.

Have you chosen your word of 2026 yet? If so, why don't you head over the Facebook Group and share with us there?

Closing the Year with Gratitude: Reflections on 2025

As 2025 draws to a close, it feels like the right moment to pause, to breathe, to look back, and to gently honour everything this year has held.

Inspired Women has always been about connection over perfection, and this year embodied that more than ever. We’ve gathered around tables, shared stories, supported one another through change, and created space where women could show up exactly as they are. Some arrived full of confidence, others quietly finding their feet, all equally welcome.

This year reminded us that community isn’t built in grand gestures, but in the small, consistent moments... a conversation that lingers, a nod of recognition across the room, a message sent after a meeting saying “thank you, I needed that.” Those moments matter. They ripple outward in ways we don’t always see straight away.

2025 was also a year of collaboration. Inspired Women continued to grow through partnerships, shared events, and collective fundraising, proving that when women work together, everyone benefits. From creative initiatives to community-focused projects, the generosity of our members shone through. Funds were raised, awareness was built, and most importantly, people felt less alone.

There were challenges too, of course there were, because real life doesn’t pause just because we belong to a community. Many of us navigated personal transitions, health journeys, business shifts, and the ongoing juggle of modern life. What stood out was the way support showed up, not in fixing or forcing, but in listening, holding space, and simply being there.

As the year ends, it’s worth remembering that growth doesn’t always look loud or obvious. Sometimes growth is choosing rest. Sometimes it’s setting a boundary. Sometimes it’s returning to yourself after a season of giving everything to everyone else. All of that counts.

Inspired Women exists because of the women who walk through the door, with their ideas, experiences, kindness, and courage. Whether you attended one event or many, spoke up or quietly observed, you were part of this year’s story.

As we move toward a new year, there’s no pressure to rush ahead. Winter invites reflection, softness, and renewal in its own time. Let’s carry forward what worked, release what no longer fits, and step into 2026 grounded, connected, and open to what’s next.

Thank you for being part of Inspired Women in 2025. Your presence, energy, and authenticity are what make this community what it is.

Here’s to rest, reflection, and new beginnings! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Connection Over Perfection: Why Community Matters More Than Ever

As we reach the end of another busy year, one thing stands out from every Inspired Women dinner, event, and coffee chat: connection always matters more than perfection.

Whether it was sharing stories over dinner (& Jeanette's amazing desserts), laughing through a talk, or offering quiet support when someone needed it, every woman who walked through the Hub door added something special to our circle.

Inspired Women has never been about getting it all “right.”

It’s about showing up as we are; tired, joyful, curious, messy, real, and finding belonging in that shared space!

As we come closer to the end of the year, let’s celebrate the beauty of showing up, connecting deeply, and choosing community over perfection. After all, that’s where the real magic happens.

What's been your favourite moment of Inspired Women this year? Send me an email or find the post on the Facebook group to share.

Thank you to everyone who's shaped Inspired Women 2025 so far! I can't wait to see what 2026 brings us!!

(photo credit: IW Member Chloe Barnett)

A New Home for Healing and Collaboration: CSRI Academy at The Nexus Holistic Education Centre

I recently had the joy of attending the launch of a brand-new home for Inspired Woman Mariann Freed’s CSRI Training Academy, now based at The Nexus Holistic Education Centre in Shepperton.

The Nexus is a beautiful and tranquil retreat space created by Jo Woods and her husband Tom at their family home on Walton Lane Farm. Surrounded by gardens, horses, and picturesque countryside, the centre offers a welcoming sanctuary for workshops, day retreats, and short events, while also providing short-term accommodation upstairs for professionals working locally, including those at Shepperton Studios.

Mariann’s CSRI Academy of Excellence has now found a perfect home here. The Academy offers world-class teaching in Cranio-Sacral Reflexology Faure-Alderson®️, training reflexologists across the UK and internationally to a high standard of skill, confidence, and care.

As Mariann explains: “Our mission is not only to provide exceptional training in the field of reflexology but also to foster a community of like-minded individuals who share our commitment to promoting health, wellness, and self-awareness.”

The launch event, which I attended with fellow Inspired Woman Erica Ferrar, was a wonderful celebration of both Mariann’s teaching and Jo’s vision for The Nexus as a collaborative wellness hub. With exciting plans for retreats and workshops already in conversation, including some potential Inspired Women collaborations next year, the opening of The Nexus marks the start of something special for Shepperton and beyond.

To find out more about the CSRI Academy of Excellence or the Nexus Holistic Education Centre, get in touch with Mariann and/or Jo directly: https://www.cranioreflex.com/contact/ or waltonlanefarm@gmail.com

The Swish is Back! Refresh Your Wardrobe, Support Your Community!

We’re so excited to bring The Swish back to Hampton this autumn!

Join us on Saturday 11th October, 4–7pm at The Inspired Hub for an afternoon of fun, fashion, and community spirit.

What is a Swish?
A Swish is a fun and sustainable way to refresh your wardrobe while supporting your community.

Here’s how it works:

Bring What You Can – Bring 1–10 items of good quality clothing, shoes, or accessories. Women’s, men’s, and children’s items are all welcome (clean and in good condition).

Check-In & Fashion Show – Drop off your items at the check-in desk and then grab a seat for our fashion show before the Swish begins!

Tokens = Treasures – For each item you bring, you’ll receive a token. Exchange your tokens for “new-to-you” pieces once the Swish opens.

Ready, Set, Swish! – When the countdown finishes, everyone gets to browse the rails and tables. Spend your tokens on pieces you love!

Fair Play & Fitting Rooms – First come, first served, and yes, there’ll be fitting rooms so you can try things on.

Giving Back: Supporting Local Projects

Entry to The Swish is just £5, and every pound goes into the Inspired Women Fundraising Pot.

This pot supports:
RUILS – an incredible local charity empowering disabled children and adults to live independent lives.

Hub Help & Services Project – a new Hampton Inspired Hub initiative supporting local residents with everyday challenges. Whether it’s feeling nervous about having people in your home, needing trusted and reasonable traders, wanting a chaperone for peace of mind, or struggling to afford small but important jobs — the Hub can help with signposting, support, and even subsidies.

So when you Swish, you’re not only refreshing your wardrobe, you’re directly supporting your neighbours and community.

✨ Save the date: Saturday 11th October, 4–7pm at Hampton Inspired Hub.
✨ Entry: £5 donation

Member Spotlight: Chloe Barnett – Empowering Women Through the Lens

At Inspired Women, we’re lucky to have so many talented, compassionate women in our community, and Chloe Barnett is one of them!

Chloe is a personal branding photographer who helps business owners step into their fullest expression and share their authentic selves with the world. Her photography is more than just images; it’s about capturing your story, your energy, and your uniqueness so that you can attract the clients who truly align with you.

As Chloe says:
“I love working with compassionate business owners who care about making the world a better place. By intentionally working with people who deeply care, we can start to build a more sustainable, compassionate and equal future for us all.”

Over the past few months, Chloe has beautifully captured moments from our Inspired Women dinners, first in April and most recently at our summer BBQ. She also ran a mini headshot session for me and two other members, creating photos that felt uplifting, authentic, and fun. Being in front of the camera can sometimes feel daunting, but Chloe has a magical way of putting people at ease, making the whole experience empowering.

Her clients often say the same: that she makes them feel confident, comfortable, and celebrated. One described her shoot as “fun, transformative, and empowering” — and we couldn’t agree more.

We’re so grateful to Chloe for sharing her talent with our Inspired Women community. Her vibrant, movement-filled photography is a reminder that visibility doesn’t have to be scary, it can be joyful, collaborative, and empowering.

Thank you, Chloe, for helping us shine!

You can find out more about Chloe’s work and upcoming mini headshot sessions on her website: https://www.chloebarnettphotography.co.uk/miniheadshots

Member Spotlight: Susan Green – Building Community in Hampton

If there’s one word that sums up Susan Green, it’s community.

As the original founder of Inspired Women and a true multi-hat wearer, Susan has spent years creating opportunities for people to connect, collaborate, and thrive.

From running Greenacres Nurseries to bringing all sorts of businesses and clubs to The Hampton Inspired Hub, Susan’s energy for building community is at the heart of everything she does.

When I took over Inspired Women earlier this year, Susan didn’t slow down. Instead, she stepped into a new role as Chair of the Hampton Village Traders Association (HVTA), where she now leads a vibrant group of local business owners working together to keep Hampton’s high street and various areas alive, welcoming, and thriving.

The HVTA is much more than a local business network. Under Susan’s leadership, it champions collaboration, organises monthly socials, and supports beloved community events such as the Christmas Celebrations and the upcoming Screen on the Green open-air cinema. The association also promotes Susan’s community initiatives like Never Hungry in Hampton and Never Alone at Christmas, ensuring that local support reaches those who need it most.

“Hampton is such a special place,” Susan says. “I feel lucky to be part of a community that looks out for each other, celebrates local talent, and supports our businesses. The HVTA gives us a chance to bring people together in meaningful ways.”

This August Bank Holiday Monday, Susan and the HVTA team will once again host Screen on the Green, a much-loved tradition that brings the whole community together for an evening of film, food, and fun under the summer sky. It’s one of the highlights of Hampton’s social calendar and a perfect example of the community spirit Susan works so hard to nurture.

Inspired Women is proud to spotlight Susan Green as a shining example of what it means to lead with vision, energy, and heart. From empowering women in business to championing Hampton’s traders, Susan continues to inspire those around her to give back, step up, and make a difference.

Would you like to get more involved in the HVTA? Get in touch! https://www.hamptonvillage.org.uk/

Meet Your New Host: My Journey to Inspired Women

Hi, I’m Justine, your new host for Inspired Women in Hampton! If we haven’t met yet, I can’t wait to connect. If we have, you already know that I’m passionate about building spaces where women feel truly seen, supported, and inspired. But let me take you back to how I got here…

For years, I struggled with self-doubt, trying to fit into a version of success that didn’t feel quite right. I played small, even when I had big dreams. It wasn’t until I dove deep into my own journey, through coaching, energy work, and a whole lot of self-reflection, that I realised something powerful… We thrive when we’re surrounded by the right people!

That’s exactly what Inspired Women is about. It’s not just networking, it’s a space where women connect on a real level, where we celebrate wins, support challenges, and lift each other up. Whether you’re growing a business, making a career shift, or just looking for a community that gets you, you’re in the right place.

I’m honoured to continue the amazing work that Susan Green started, and I hope to bring my own energy to this incredible group. So, let’s do this together, because when women support women, magic happens.
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