The Jelly Story
The original Jelly concept was established in 2006 when two New York freelancers were talking about a major drawback of working alone; namely the lack of company.
They decided to invite a group of freelancers to bring their laptops and work together in their apartment for the day, and called it Jelly as they were eating Jelly beans at the time!
A wiki page followed shortly thereafter as news of Jelly spread and it is still used heavily by most Jelly organisers to promote their events held around the world.Co-working means meeting up with like-minded people to work together in a different environment, to exchange help and advice, and maybe come up with a new idea to collaborate on.
Jelly’s differ from networking in that the aim is not to ultimately to find new clients or to just sell yourself or your business.
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Jelly SW helps build a cohesive local economy, especially in rural areas, especially within Devon / Cornwall / Somerset and Dorset where there is a strong number of small/micro businesses.
Jelly SW was born from just one Jelly in Honiton per month nearly 10 years ago, over time Jelly South West has grown to demand and now after covid have introduced an Ambassador programme and extending the Jelly South West co-working event across the South West.
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During Covid-19 the virtual Jelly SW hour was created as a place for speakers and to help with removing home working isolation and create connections during the pandemic.
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In 2023, Jelly SW joined a collaboration with Building Brands. From a chat about mental wellbeing has led Dave Briggs and I to acknowledge the deeper need for Jelly's for all those individuals who work from home, for themselves and potentially suffer the pressures of deadlines and isolation to ensure they know there are events like Jelly's where you can come along, bounce ideas , chat, laugh over coffee and build your own network of support.
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For 2024 Jelly SW takes an additional direction with co-working now fully in bloom nationally, Jelly SW will start to focus more on offering a start up /freelancer / small business support and signposting service.
Meet the Jelly Lady
Jelly SW Lady & Graphic Designer
Louise Pallister Turley
I started the Jelly's after running a local netwoking event and was asked about the Jelly concept, from this conversation I learnt about the Jelly ethos and decided the South West is full of fellow small businesses and freelancers that would benefit from getting together and building a community.
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Jelly South West was born.... and fortunately the co-working boom also happened giving Jelly's the venues and recognition to blossom...
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If you would like any graphic design/art services or support, please do not hesitate to contact me or discover more at www.tinydesignsdevon.uk.
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