The Beautiful Bunch secures philanthropic funding to expand its refugee training program

Melbourne-based floral enterprise The Beautiful Bunch has expanded the horizons for its trainees and achieved a long-time dream, announcing that it has secured support to fund a significant expansion of its training program.

Founded by Jane Marx in 2020, The Beautiful Bunch is a social enterprise that creates work for women who have recently migrated to Australia and helps them on the path to fulfilling their dreams.

The funding will see its program expanded from 6 to 8 months, digitising all training resources, and building on the admin training that the enterprise currently provides to deliver a full digital skills and financial literacy program.

Marx told SmartCompany that she was recently speaking on a business podcast about her personal story of founding The Beautiful Bunch, as well as its vision and the mission of the social enterprise more broadly. 

“Someone who works for  Shine On Foundation, a Melbourne-based family trust, was listening to that episode, and I think the message of what we are doing and how we are doing it resonated with them,” she said. 

“They got in touch to chat more about where the current gaps are in our model and how philanthropic funding could support our growth. 

“The world of philanthropy can be a pretty strange place to navigate, but as soon as we met, I felt like we were speaking a common language and they really understood the importance of our work and our bigger vision.”

Marx said the expansion of Bud to Bloom — The Beautiful Bunch’s training program — is the realisation of its vision that has been three years in the making. 

“We are offering an additional two months, expanding our paid training program from six to eight months,” she said. 

“In addition to this, we are formalising the work we do in building digital skills and financial literacy. 

“At the four-month mark, trainees will be able to choose a pathway to specialise in — either our Creative Industries program or Digital Futures. Creative Industries has a focus on advanced floristry skills, design theory, and visual merchandising, Digital Futures is focused on business administration, the building of skills in Microsoft Suite, and an introduction to e-commerce.” 

The program expansion will see trainees graduate with skills that are transferrable to a large number of industries and gain a deeper understanding of the importance of building financial independence.

Marx said expanding The Beautiful Bunch’s training program in this way is a response to the large volume of feedback they have received over the past few years. 

“We know where the gaps are and how to fill them, but sometimes this requires funding beyond floristry sales,” she said. 

“It is a process of ensuring that we continue to put our trainees at the centre of all that we do and provide the most valuable experience we can. 

“The changes we are making are crucial to The Beautiful Bunch because we are creating something that is preparing the young women we work with for the rapidly changing nature of a workforce that is increasingly difficult to navigate. 

“People are worried about a future where AI is taking our jobs, but for many marginalised from the mainstream workforce, they are not even able to confidently utilise the technology we currently have.”

Marx added that the program they are creating, especially in terms of building financial literacy, is the first of its kind.

“It will be something that so many young women, not just those from refugee backgrounds, would find immense value in. The big dreams of our team are something that we need to nurture, and this program is going to support them to see just what they are capable of,” she said.