Mariposa Education and Training
6 November 2025
Sector: Education
Location: Nottingham
Mariposa Education and Training is based in Nottingham and was set up in April 2021 by Vanessa McFarlane.
Vanessa is a sole trader who is supported by 2 or 3 freelancers in her business. The business delivers high quality Relationship, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) to young people in schools, communities, colleges and universities. It also provides expert training to equip staff from these organisations with the skills and confidence to delivery effective and inclusive RSHE.
Challenges faced
The main challenge for the business centred around generating new business to be able to get into new schools and organisations. Although the benefits of social media were recognised, there was a lack of time and experience to put an effective plan together to engage with the target audience and build a following.
On top of this, shrinking budgets and demand to spend it on other things has led many schools to deliver more in-house RSHE, which is reducing the need for external suppliers.
Solution – Support Given
Mariposa Education and Training has been supported by the Nottingham Accelerator project. East Midlands Chamber’s Business Adviser Richard Crowden has conducted a diagnostic with the business to find out where it is now and its growth plans. Richard has provided 1-to-1 advice to Vanessa and helped her apply for a £2,000 Growth Voucher. This has funded specialist social media consultancy and training through Klir Online, a business already familiar with Mariposa Education and Training.
Klir Online will support Vanessa to enhance her social media skills and improve the digital presence of the business, to make it more visible and generate leads.
Vanessa is introducing new processes to manage her social media presence on Instagram and Facebook, which is enabling a more strategic approach. She hopes to learn how to use social media as a more effective marketing tool to increase bookings for her services in education, training and life coaching.
Impact – The Difference it’s Made
It’s early days but Vanessa hopes with a planned and strategic approach to her digital marketing, this will provide increased business, in particular lead generation through social media platforms. In the long term her aim would be to hire someone to take on this role and incorporate the use of AI to grow the business.
“I’m excited about the support being given. The Growth Voucher will help improve my skills and give me a better understanding of AI. I hope this will help increase the business profile and knowledge and ultimately lead to new business.”
- Vanessa McFarlane, Founder
