£1,495 Grant Helps Dorchester Mum's Cleaning Firm Double

A £1,495 grant from Dorset Community Foundation has helped a Dorchester mum more than double the client list of the cleaning business she started after leaving an abusive relationship. Cailin Lambrechts, 30, now has four cleaners working for Serene and Solace, still cleans full-time herself, and plans to take on a fifth person in the new year.

She set the business up two years ago, under the name Poundbury Housekeepers, with her own savings, after leaving with her baby daughter.

“Leaving the relationship was the hardest thing I’ve ever done but I needed to start again and I didn’t want to rely on Universal Credit, I wanted to be independent from everyone financially,” she said.

Cailin was born in South Africa and moved to Dorset with her family in 2013. Before the business she was a personal trainer.

“I would have loved to have gone back to it but it just wasn’t a feasible option with having a little one and being a single parent because the hours are so unsociable.”

Leaflets from the pram

Winning customers was slow. “I remember going out with my daughter’s pram posting leaflets to get more business, but it was hard. I needed better marketing material and branding to stand out because I didn’t feel professional enough.”

A business coach suggested she apply to the SWEF Enterprise Fund, which the foundation runs for people aged 18 to 30. It gives up to £500 to start a business, or up to £2,000 to a business that has been trading for less than two years.

She found the application useful in itself. “I really enjoyed the application process because I found it quite reflective and therapeutic,” she said. “It made me think about my goals and envision what is possible, rather than trying to just keep the business going. It gave me a moment to sit back and think about where I wanted it to go and what I wanted it to look like.”

“I bawled my eyes out”

After a video interview with the grant panel, an email arrived telling her she had been awarded £1,495.

“I bawled my eyes out. I was visiting a friend when I opened the email and we were jumping up and down in her kitchen screaming.

“It was such a humbling experience because I had had the business idea but I don’t know if I fully believed in myself. My self-confidence was extremely low at the time but having the yes from the panel made me realise people actually believed in me and it really has driven me so much.

“Having that yes was more invaluable than the money that I received, it was such a confidence boost.”

The money went on a rebranding and a photography package for her marketing and social media, and she is building a website. “It just makes everything look a little bit more high end and professional,” she said.

Off Universal Credit since May

“My ambition was to be independent from Universal Credit and I did that in May. From here I would really like to be in a place where I can step away from doing the hands on cleaning myself and just focus on running and growing the business,” she said.

“My little girl turns three in December and I’d like to be able to be in a position where I don’t have to take time off for the school holidays and be flexible and available for her. To be there I’d need to have at least four full-time staff.

“Without this grant I don’t think the business would have grown in the way and at the speed it has. I don’t think I would have been very confident in it and perhaps I might have got into employment at some stage.”

She hopes other women in her old position will take something from it. “I hope my story is a little beacon for someone to show it can be done.”

Details of the SWEF Enterprise Fund are on the Dorset Community Foundation website. Serene and Solace is on Facebook and Instagram.

If you are affected by domestic abuse, the free 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline is on 0808 2000 247.