Success stories
Help from No Limits brings Milly and Miles to life
Tuesday 9th February
Two dolls specially designed in Blackburn are helping educate children all over the UK, with support from No Limits.
Milly and Miles were created by Alison Rogerson and Mandy Monk, who between them have decades of experience in working with children. The two dolls come with a storybook introducing the characters and set of activity cards, resources and a DVD to support teaching children positive behaviour- like sharing and turn taking.
Alison explains: “Dolls are a very powerful teaching tool, because children relate to them and feel comfortable talking to them.
“Behaviour is an area where we expect so much from children but actually teach so little. Milly and Miles help us to support and show children how to behave positively.”
They identified a need for this type of resource but to develop Milly and Miles from an idea to a successful business, Alison and Mandy needed some support. Someone who’d already been helped by No Limits suggested that they could help.
Steve Hoyle, Director of No Limits, explains: “No Limits is a set of programmes that all help in different ways. Some businesses may use just one of the elements of No Limits, but in this case, Mandy and Alison were able to get support from lots of different areas of No Limits.”
The Eureka programme, which supports the development of ideas and new products helped develop a sample Milly and Miles pack. Business start-up scheme Get Set provided advice and a grant to help them on their way. And specialist international trade support, delivered through the Chamber of Commerce, helped to arrange manufacturing in China and delivery to the UK.
Mandy says: “We already had several contacts expressing interest, so we knew there was an open door."
“But we got really good advice, especially about things we wouldn’t have thought about. For example, Eureka helped with trademarking. The Chamber helped with getting costs down and shipping arrangements. Get Set helped us with the business plan.
“We had the ideas, but they helped with how those ideas could work as a business.”
And while Milly and Miles are now teaching children all over the country, Mandy and Alison are still learning. They’re talking to No Limits Guardian Angels next, to see what other support they can get. Mandy explains “We have an exciting expansion plan which involves the development of new doll characters and a second actvity pack focussing on teaching children the vital message of keeping safe.”
Says Alison: “We are receiving invaluable support from Blackburn Enterprise Trust in developing our future vision for the business - There’s support out there. I would advise anyone thinking of starting a new business to get advice from them.”
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