Applications closed. Please view our programmes page for other opportunities or join our newsletter to be the first to hear when we run future editions of theprogramme.
Are you a person of colour and a changemaker who would love to make the great outdoors feel more accessible to everyone? If you’re keen to establish your own outdoors business or organisation and serve new communities, this programme is for you!
Recent years have all too clearly shown how spending time outdoors, and enjoying the freedom of wild places, is so important to everyone’s mental and physical well being. But for many people of colour from Britain’s ethnically diverse communities, accessing and spending time in nature just isn’t as easy and welcoming as it should be.
That’s why a collective of leading outdoor brands and organisations came together and asked Hatch to help them launch the Opening Up the Outdoors (OUTO) Changemaker Programme. Now building on the success of its first year, this multi-year project is designed to support changemakers whose businesses, initiatives and groups are working to build a more diverse, equitable and anti-racist outdoor community.
Sheree Mack
Founder of Earth Sea Love, Hatch graduate
The barriers to accessing the outdoors are varied, but often include hostility and discrimination. People of colour sometimes say they are made to feel like they don’t belong in the outdoors, and they don’t have the confidence or networks to try something new. Financial resources also play a role – as does geography – it’s harder to access the outdoors if you don’t live close to any open spaces.
In the UK White people are 70% more likely than Black and Asian people to spend time in the countryside.
If you’re a person of colour and a changemaker who is at the start of setting up an outdoors brand, we’d like to offer you bespoke tailored support from Hatch, including access to expert-led masterclasses, peer mentoring, business coaching and skilled consulting.
You’d also be joining a group of founders who are on the same outdoors mission as you, as well as getting the chance to join our thriving, multicultural community of other entrepreneurs and leaders from diverse sectors.
Hatch’s programmes are co-designed with you in mind, meaning our support will always be tailored to what you feel are your most pressing challenges, from cash flow to marketing, branding to building networks. You’ll learn how to grow sustainably, increase your impact, and support people from ethnically diverse communities to access the outdoors. After the programme, you’ll also become eligible to apply for development grants of up to £1k (competitively assessed) to invest directly into your new organisation.
Now in its second edition, the long-term intention of this programme is to keep supporting a continuously expanding network changemakers. The OUTO group is working towards getting even more leading outdoor brands and established outdoor organisations to join its mission, so that it can reach more communities and make a bigger impact across the country.
Opening Up The Outdoors was founded in 2021. They are a collective of outdoor brands and experts, Allies and Changemakers with a shared passion and love of the outdoors, who are committed to creating momentum for the progression of continued inclusion within outdoor spaces. OUTO aims to create an outdoor community and industry that is truly diverse, equitable, anti-racist and accessible.
We are a collective of outdoor brands and experts, allies and changemakers with a shared passion and love of the outdoors who are committed to creating momentum for the progression of continued inclusion within outdoor spaces.
Amanda Calder McClaren,
Chair of OUTO
Creating your vision, mission, impact and values
Session: Wed 25 Oct 6pm-8pm
Workshop: Wed 1 Nov 6pm-8pm
Business model and strategy: The Lean Business Model Canvas
Session: Wed 8 Nov 6pm-8pm
Workshop: Wed 15 Nov 6pm-8pm
Product/market fit and identifying your customer
Session: Wed 22 Nov 6pm-8pm
Workshop: Wed 29 Nov 6pm-8pm
Costing, pricing and finance
Session: Wed 6 Dec 6pm-8pm
Workshop: Wed 13 Dec 6pm-8pm
Branding, marketing, and sales
Session: Wed 3 Jan 6pm-8pm
Workshop: Wed 10 Jan 6pm-8pm
Funding and accessing funding through pitching
Session: Wed 17 Jan 6pm-8pm
Workshop: Wed 24 Jan 6pm-8pm
Pitching your business to friendly Dragons
Wed 7 Feb 10am-12pm
Graduation celebration
Wed 7 Feb 6pm-8pm
If you’re a person of colour and a changemaker who is starting or growing a community group, social enterprise or business in the UK that promotes a diverse, equal and anti-racist outdoor community, we’d love to hear from you.
Each of our programmes is designed for a different stage in your entrepreneurial journey, from idea to scaling.
Launchpads are for entrepreneurs who have a business idea or have just launched their business, understand the problem they are trying to solve, and are ready to start their entrepreneurial journey. Over twelve sessions, you will learn the basics of entrepreneurial mindset, business strategy, finance, branding, and pitching that you need to get your business off the ground.
Incubators are for entrepreneurs who have been running their business as a side hustle and gained some traction and are now looking to make the business more sustainable and have a clearer strategy. Over nine workshops you will learn the skills you need in business strategy, culture and mission, social media, legal, storytelling, PR, pricing, customer journey mapping and pitching in order to help turn your business from a side hustle to your full-time job.
Accelerators are business and leadership programmes that have been designed for entrepreneurs who are ready to scale their business and impact. Over twelve workshops, you will evaluate your personal leadership strengths and the opportunities for your business to grow, and tap into the knowledge of the other entrepreneurs on the programme to plan your path to sustainable growth.
You can see all the programmes we’re currently offering on our programmes page: www.hatchenterprise.org/our-programmes
Hatch programmes are for entrepreneurs based in the UK. Every programme we run has different application criteria that allows us to best tailor our support. Some of our programmes are reserved for or prioritise founders from groups that are underrepresented in entrepreneurship, including women and other marginalised genders, or Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic founders, founders who are working on a social or environmental impact business, or founders from a specific geographic region.
You can find out more about each programme’s eligibility criteria on the programme page.
You can express your interest in one of our programmes using the application form. Try to answer the questions in as much detail as possible, as we don’t ask applicants to submit a business plan or model.
After the deadline for the programme applications have passed, a Hatch team member will be in touch to let you know if you are invited to an interview. Depending on when you apply, this may take a few days to a few weeks. During the interview, we will ask questions about yourself and your business to see if you are a good fit for the programme. In some instances, an interview may not be required.
After the interview, we’ll let you know if you have been selected to take part in the programme. We aim to get back to you within 1- 4 weeks with a decision. Some programmes may have additional criteria which we use to assess your suitability. For example, some are for women only, others may require that you have a social or environmental impact and some are based on your turnover.
In each of our programmes you will get access to
Our accessibility supports include, but are not limited to:
All of our programmes take place online, either via Zoom, Butter or other online meeting software.
Thanks to our incredible corporate partners, we are able to offer our programmes at a reduced rate to participants, and in some cases for no cost. You can find the prices for each programme on the programme application page.
Hatch Enterprise’s operates a trust-based self-referral system, when it comes to bursaries. It is our policy to offer bursaries to anyone who:
Additional partnerships also enable us to offer free places to residents of the following housing associations: Peabody, The Guinness Partnership
If the cost of the programme is a barrier, you can indicate that you would like to be considered for a bursary in the application form to reduce or remove the programme cost.
No. Hatch’s programmes provide support to entrepreneurs, but we don’t take any equity or stake in your business.
Like most early-stage programmes, Hatch doesn’t sign an NDA with participants, but we never share any confidential information from the application process or programmes.
Hatch’s programmes are part-time and designed to fit around your business and your life. Most programmes will have a maximum of 8 hours of workshops a month and we ask all participants to attend all programme events unless they have communicated with the Programme Manager beforehand. Some programmes offer additional support opportunities via 1-2-1 mentoring, extra optional events or a set of recommended tasks to complete outside of your 8 hours of monthly workshops. All content is designed for Founders to follow at their own pace whilst on the programme.
When you graduate from the programme, you will become part of the Hatch community. You can continue to build connections with other Hatch founders, access exclusive events, masterclasses, perks, and share and receive news and opportunities.
We ask that there is one primary founder who takes part in the programme and attends the workshops and 121 support. Co-founders or business partners who are not on programmes are welcome to attend 121 support alongside the main founder. There may be additional opportunities for participation, but this would be detailed to you by the programme manager.
Once you have completed and graduated from a Hatch programme you may be eligible to apply for a grant through the Hatch Fund. The grants team at Hatch will let you know about eligibility criteria and how much funding you can apply for when applications for grants open. We work with our grant-making partner, Groundwork, to administer this fund.
The amount you can apply for will vary based on two factors; what programme (Launchpad, Incubator or Accelerator) you’ve graduated from, but also which of our partners is supporting that specific programme. As an example, it’s possible that two Launchpad programmes running at the same time will have differently sized grant pots available at the end of the programme. This amount is largely dictated by our partners. Also worth noting, not all applicants will be successful as the grant fund is competitive, and the total maximum amount applied for may not be awarded.
Most of our programmes have between 12-18 participants in a cohort. Sometimes we
run multiple cohorts at a time, so some of your sessions may have multiple cohorts brought together for particular sessions giving you even more opportunity to network with like minded founders on a similar journey to you!
Hatch is open to all business models, sectors and industries. So whether you are creating a product, service or marketplace, selling to individual consumers or businesses, seeking funding or bootstrapping – our programmes can help you and your business.
I want to grow my idea/business
I want to get involved
I want to learn more
Hatch Enterprise
53-63 East Street, SE17 2DJ
+44 20 7993 0074
hello@hatchenterprise.org
Hatch Enterprise, 53-63 East Street, London, SE17 2DJ.
020 7993 0074
hello@hatchenterprise.org
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