Stories

Learn more about the diverse individuals and organizations Inova has worked with over the years and the impact of our work.

Inova Staff at party holding a 21 balloon.

Messages from Inova’s 21st Anniversary!

We celebrated our 21st Anniversary in style on the 25th November 2022, with a wonderful party at Couch in Sheffield, attended by past and present staff and participants, and our family and friends. During the event we shared some wonderful messages from people we've worked with around the world!

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Advancing Migrant Women Participant

Alicja Dzieciol was a participant of the Advancing Migrant Women training programme in the UK. The programme encouraged her to become an entrepreneur, and in 2019 she founded her own business SilviBio Limited, which is a company that develops moisture-retaining materials for seed coatings and soil conditioners, aiming to help…

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InterMED Project Participant

CareersDiversity

The InterMED project aims to promote intercultural management and relationships in the workplace. There have been two pilot training programmes for this project across the partnership. In this testimonial, one of the InterMED participants provides feedback for the training programme and the project. In addition, she examines intercultural management and…

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SMS Project Participant

CareersCoachingDiversityEnterpriseMentoringMigrationSocial Responsibility

The SMS project aims to support migrant women on their path to social inclusion. The project partners developed an innovative learning methodology where learners engaged in Social Media training modules, followed by Mentoring Circles™️ sessions. The SMS Project is co-funded by the European Union and ERASMUS+.

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Advancing Migrant Women Participant

Advancing Migrant Women was a programme which provided leadership training to migrant women, helping them to develop their employability and entrepreneurship skills. The 6 week programme took place in Sheffield in June 2019 and the following quote is a testimonial from one of our participants. I wanted to say thank…

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Becky Lyne – FREE circle participant

CoachingEnterpriseMentoring

Becky Lyne, is an ex-professional international athlete, she is now settled in Sheffield where she has started her own business: 'TrYumph Health' which encourages healthy living and exercise for everyone!  Here is her experience of being a Circle participant in the FREE project - a project that aims to support…

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John Turner – Learning 2.0gether Participant

CareersCoachingMentoring

Learning 2.0gether was a Lifelong Learning Project funded by the European Commission which aimed to both increase skills and encourage inter-generational learning! Alongside Voluntary Action Sheffield and partners in Italy and Spain, we developed training for young people who had been long-term unemployed, helping them to develop coaching skills and…

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Mind the Gap Career Circle – The Sheffield College

CareersCoachingMentoringSTEM

In 2015, Inova and The Sheffield College ran a set a Career Circles with female Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) students as part of an Erasmus Plus funded project called 'Mind the GAP'. The project was aimed at promoting STEM studies to young women and supporting the retention of…

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Monica Da Costa – Enterprise4All Participant

CoachingEnterprise

In 2015, Monica took part in Enterprise Circles with Inova, as part of our Enterprise4All project. The project was aimed at providing unemployed people with the necessary enterprising skills for creating their own business and generating their own job. It focused on the most vulnerable people, affected by the global…

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Sheffield Yoga Centre – Coaching Client

CoachingEnterprise

I would highly recommend Marina Larios as a business coach and mentor for a small enterprise, such as ourselves, Sheffield Yoga Centre. Her approach and support has been invaluable in taking forward some of my ideas and developing a short and medium term strategy from them. I approached Marina in…

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Yee Kwan Ice-cream – Mentoring Circle Participant

CoachingEnterprise

I first met Marina in 2010 when I first set up my business, she led and facilitated a group of female entrepreneurs which I was part of. Marina has helped inspire and empower me to become the business owner I am today. I had little experience and confidence in myself…

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Valb Training – Mentoring Circle Participant

CoachingEnterprise

I have known Marina for several years now and I am a beneficiary of Inova Mentoring Circles. I joined a Mentoring Circle in 2008 after being made redundant from my job. Marina was the facilitator and supported me with my decision to move into self employment and the experience was…

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Claire Warburton – EMPOWER Project Participant

CareersCoachingMentoring

Claire took part in our EMPOWER project, as a support worker from Buzz Sheffield. As part of the project, Claire was a participant in the first pilot of our Empowering Others Training programme, an 8 week course funded by the European Commission, to help those working with vulnerable women to…

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