Edinburgh business networking club agrees partnership with charity ‘close to our hearts’

Guest speakers at Love Your Business have included Chris van der Kuyl, chairman and co-founder of games developer 4J Studios.

Love Your Business has announced that its new charity partnership for 2024 is Carers of East Lothian (CoEL).

A business networking club that has attracted more than 180 guest speakers including rugby legend Scott Hastings has agreed a new charity partnership for 2024.

Edinburgh-based Love Your Business was founded by Michelle Brown of the eponymous PR agency to help start-ups and growth businesses to make connections, share contacts, exchange referrals and ideas, and also find new collaborative opportunities. The networking club is celebrating its sixth anniversary and over the years its guest speakers have included Marie Owen, founder of LS Productions, Alice Thompson, the co-founder of Social Bite and Chris van der Kuyl, the chairman and co-founder of games developer 4J Studios.

This year Love Your Business is partnering with Carers of East Lothian (CoEL) which was founded 26 years ago to provide much-needed support for people who are caring for someone. One of the aims of the networking club, which started in Black Ivy in Bruntsfield in January 2018, and ran online during the pandemic, is to support various charities and social enterprises to help raise awareness and donate a percentage of funds from ticket sales from the events. Organisations also receive PR and marketing support for a year.

Brown said: “Carers of East Lothian is a cause very close to our hearts. The outstanding work they do to support people who are caring for loved ones including family members, friends and neighbours for over two decades is highly commendable. The charity is dedicated to making life a little bit easier for carers, whether it is supporting them to take a break or signposting them to grants and legal advice, which is why we are honoured to be helping them to raise even more awareness of the great work they are doing and raise funds too.”

Jessica Wade, chief executive of Carers of East Lothian, added: ‘'This is a fantastic opportunity for us to raise much needed funds for our work with local carers, as well as benefiting from Michelle’s valuable expertise to help us reach every carer who needs our support across East Lothian.”

Tickets for the next networking event on February 29 at Black Ivy in Bruntsfield have gone on sale.