Young Ipswich mums who want to find a route back into work or education are urged to sign up for a new programme.

Kim Trotter from community interest company Future Female Society has been awarded funding to run More Than Mum.

The launch comes following the success of two pilot programmes.

The project will involve a series of session that build confidence and skills in areas that employers look for, such as communication, leadership and creative thinking.

At the end of the course the mums put all their learning into practise by hosting an event.

Ms Trotter said: “Alongside all of this, and perhaps most importantly, the mums are building a peer support network of people in similar situations to them which can massively help to support their wellbeing and help to combat isolation. There is also a wider network they can tap into when they start to take their next steps.”

More Than Mum has been funded by £10,000 from the Awards for All Lottery pot, and £3,500 from the Central Ipswich Area Committee.

“The programme is very personal to me,” Ms Trotter added.

“I was a young single mum and remember feeling very isolated and overwhelmed. I wanted to work and support myself but there was little or no support and I was all but written off.

“I was sad to find that 25 plus years later little had changed and so I set about creating a programme that could help young mums back into work or at least back on a path to independence. It is also even more important now that we have seen how the pay gap affects women’s lives and this is often linked, especially in young women, to the economic inactivity that ensues from being a full time carer.”

The aim of Future Female Society is to raise the personal and career aspirations of women and girls in Suffolk.

More Than Mum will start in May and is open to mums aged 16-30 from the central Ipswich area who are looking to take their next steps into employment, education or training.

Anyone interested can email Ms Trotter on kim@futurefemalesociety.org, call 07498739459, fill in an application form at www.futurefemalesociety.org, or message through the Future Female Society Facebook page.