Always on
This project successfully funded on 9th March 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
The Next Step Collective CIC
Ipswich, Suffolk, United Kingdom
Aim
Providing women with vital support to move forward with confidence, build new skills, access real opportunities, to create a brighter future
Hi, I’m Sheryl, and The Next Step Collective CIC has been growing in my heart for a long time.
This isn’t something I dreamed up on a good day.
It’s something I needed myself during some of the hardest seasons of my life.
There have been periods where I’ve felt completely alone…
where I’ve been isolated, overwhelmed, and lacking support.
I’ve experienced what it’s like to try and “keep going” while quietly struggling.
I was a single mum during Covid, trying to hold everything together when the world felt uncertain and scary.
I’ve lived with long-term chronic illness, where even basic things can feel ten times harder than they should.
And after a 25-year career, I went through a huge life shift… and the confidence knock that came with it was real.
When you’ve been through that kind of change, you can start to feel like you’ve lost yourself a bit.
Like everyone else is moving forward… and you’re stuck watching from the side-lines.
And that’s the exact moment I realised something:
💚 So many women are carrying this too.
Quietly. Bravely. Alone.
Women who feel like they’ve lost their confidence.
Women who want to work again, start a business, retrain, meet people… but don’t know where to begin.
Women who feel isolated and like support is just out of reach.
That’s why I’m building The Next Step Collective CIC.
What The Next Step Collective CIC Will Do
The Next Step Collective CIC is here to support women as they move forward into a confident future with the skills, knowledge and opportunities to create a brighter life.
This will be a space for women to:
✅ rebuild confidence
✅ develop life and work skills
✅ access opportunities and support
✅ feel part of a community again
✅ take real steps towards work, business, wellbeing and personal growth
We’ll be creating projects, programmes and supportive sessions that are practical, gentle and empowering, not intimidating or out of reach.
A place where you don’t have to “have it all together” to belong.
You just have to take the next step.
Why Your Support Matters
This Crowdfunder will help us launch the CIC properly and begin supporting women locally through:
💚 community projects
💚 wellbeing and confidence-building opportunities
💚 workshops and events
💚 skill-building sessions
💚 safe spaces for connection
💚 practical support and real-life tools
Your support isn’t just helping to fund a project.
You’re helping women who feel forgotten remember that they matter.
You’re helping them rebuild a future that feels possible again.
Because I know what it feels like to need that support and I don’t want other women to feel like they have to do it alone.
Thank you so much for being here.
Thank you for believing in this.
Let’s help women take their next step… together
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made