Nicola Green, 34 from Manchester and Verity Hart, 44 from Shropshire, are launching a vital new social enterprise helping individuals experiencing distress or anxiety by connecting them to services and resources that can support them through traumatic times. It’s their ambition that their new venture, After the Storm, will help those suffering as a result of the pandemic.
The pair of entrepreneurs have known one another for 2 years. They are juggling this important start-up venture alongside full-time work and family commitments, and have been working flat-out in recent months to turn their vision into a fully functioning one-stop shop for those that need help. They have secured the support of Andy Lord, former CEO of Code Nation, who joins the start-up as an ambassador.
After the Storm aims to become the UK’s most comprehensive and exhaustive resource of support staff, featuring practitioners as diverse as psychologists, hypnotherapists, relationship counsellors, life coaches to nutritionists. Anyone struggling with mental health, addiction, bereavement, housing or financial worries, relationship breakdowns or just those looking to improve their wellbeing, lifestyle or fitness, will be able to research individuals, charities and organisations specifically designed to help them.
Married mother of three, Verity Hart, came up with the idea for After the Storm based upon her own difficult life experiences. Her family has dealt with cancer, bereavement, alcohol addiction and bulimia, and throughout all of these traumatic times she’s struggled to know where to turn and what information you can trust on the internet. Verity is using inheritance from her parent’s recent deaths to fund the new business venture alongside three founding partners, and she is still working full-time as a Business Change Leader whilst she gets After the Storm off the ground. Verity brings a wealth of experience with her, having worked for some of the North West’s biggest employers including NBrown, Betfred, Sainsburys Argos (Widnes) and Phones4u.
Their website will launch to the public on November 30 2020. The need for After the Storm couldn’t be more urgent. The pandemic has caused economic, social and political chaos on a global scale and Christmas will make many people’s worries feel more acute. As the situation worsens weekly, many of the traditional routes to support services have been cut back at a time when they are overwhelmed.
Nicola says: “The statistics out there are very bleak. A vaccine may be in sight, but the long-term impact of the pandemic is going to be vast. Lives have been lost, marriages have collapsed, businesses have folded, many have become dependent on alcohol or have fallen into bad lifestyle habits.”
“There’s no one single solution out there for everyone. People’s needs will be complex and inter-related and that’s why we’re committed to having as broad a range of expertise listed on our platform as possible. If you’ve never needed any professional help before it can be intimidating knowing where to start and who you can trust on the internet. All of the support providers listed on After the Storm have been passed a three point credibility check. People can trust the credentials of every professional on our site.”
Verity says: “We have really ambitious plans to grow After the Storm into the largest scale resource for people that need help. For this to happen we need practitioners to register their details on the site. It’s free to sign up, and we’ll act as a connector between their business and potential clients, so it’s a great way for support providers to market their services. We’re more than a directory, however. The site will be a hub of engaging and informative content that will motivate and inspire people to begin the healing process.”
Nicola and Verity are supported by Carl Johnson, 42, from Manchester and Louise Welsby, 43 from Shropshire who are also founders. Carl consults over technology and supports on business strategy whilst Louise brings her wealth of marketing and communications experience to the team.
