AN ENVIRONMENTAL campaigner who has set out to improve her community has been nominated for a top award.

Izzie Eriksen is one of a handful of nominees up for the WISE100 Environmental Champion accolade, which celebrates women who are carrying out innovative work with a focus on climate change and environmental issues.

The mother-of-two recently opened the popular pre-loved children’s boutique Apparel Xchange in Strathbungo.

Glasgow Times:

As previously reported by the Glasgow Times, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon visited the Southside shop last November to mark its official opening.

Speaking at the time, the politician said: “This is a brilliant initiative. I’m delighted to see it take root here in the community.

“Fashion is not just for adults. Sustainable fashion is important, and the circular economy is important.”

Izzie said she hopes the brand will allow young people to make fashion choices which allow them to feel good about themselves, while also benefitting the environment and reducing the use of fast fashion.

The 46-year-old said: “It was a bit of a surprise. The nomination had come from colleagues so I was really happy and it’s just nice to get some sort of recognition for the work we’re doing.

“A lot of organising goes into a social enterprise like this and it’s been such a tough time for retail over the last few years with Covid, it’s nice to have a chance to celebrate it.

“Of course, it would be nice to win but it's not the be all. It's just great to be nominated with so many incredible women."

The winner of the award, which is supported by Pioneers Post and NatWest, will be announced next month.

Glasgow Times:

Megan Virrels, CEO of NatWest social and community capital – the bank's independent social investment charity, which has been supporting social ventures for more than 20 years – said: “Empowering women in business is a key area of focus for NatWest – our CEO Alison Rose launched the Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship back in March 2019 and her progress report published earlier this year highlighted that women have been starting a record number of new companies in the UK, with over 140,000 all-female-founded companies created during 2021.

"In addition, 134 institutions with an investing power of nearly £1 trillion have now signed up to the Investing in Women Code, a commitment by financial services firms to improving female entrepreneurs’ access to tools, resources and finance.

“But the progress report also highlighted that female-led businesses are still underfunded and that new businesses are almost three times as likely to be started by men than women.

"With a target of boosting the number of female entrepreneurs by 600,000 by the end of the decade, we know that women starting and leading social purpose organisations have an important role to play in hitting this goal, and we are determined to support them through our work at NatWest social and community capital and our partnership with Pioneers Post on the WISE100.”