A new Stockport-based Community Interest Company is launching with one clear objective. To help women feel more confident, supported and hopeful about their futures.
Feel Good Futures CIC is looking to reach local women who could benefit from skills training, wellbeing and community support.
Hoping to build partnerships with organisations across Greater Manchester as well as secure funding to expand provision, and ensure services remain accessible to those most in need.
Aiming to build on nearly a decade of education and community work already taking place through Feel Good Futures Training. The community interest company has been set up by Paul Cosgrove, who has over two decades of experience working in education.
Along with Co-Founder and Finance Director Emma Hurt, Director Abby Thomson and learning supporter Paige Riley.
Paul said: “We’ve been supporting women through education for years.
“What we kept seeing, again and again, was that qualifications alone aren’t always enough.
“Women need support with their confidence & wellbeing, and people around them who genuinely care about their progress.”
Feel Good Futures Training was founded in January 2016 by Emma Hurt and Paul Cosgrove. The organisation operates from a learning centre located right by the Stockport underbank. The CIC officially incorporated in August 2025 according to public records..
The main focus is to support Greater Manchester women. Women will otherwise be stuck on waiting lists, feeling unsupported. or trapped in a system that they believe doesn’t support them. Through the same holistic, pastoral and educational provision available with Feel Good Futures.
Many of the team have lived experience of returning to education themselves, which helps shape the trauma-aware, welcoming approach at the heart of the organisation.
Abby Thomson speaks passionately about how Feel Good Futures CIC is about creating futures that genuinely feel good. Emphasising it is not about perfect lives. Just real ones, with support, opportunity and dignity.
Abby said: “Our work is not new, on the contrary, we have been delivering government funded training courses in Stockport for a decade.
“We have helped some of Greater Manchester’s most disadvantaged and disillusioned women to go into careers they love and find confidence in themselves doing so.
“But we can only offer so much holistic and pastoral support through Training, which is why we have set up the CIC.
“We wanted to do more!”
Greater Manchester’s Feel Good Futures CIC offer:
- Skills training
- Pastoral support
- Career support
- Mental health triage
- Pastoral care
- Employment coaching
- Outfit provision
- CV writing
- Employment workshops
- Yoga
- Meditation
- Breathwork classes
- Guest speakers
The impact of the organisation is already visible through the experiences of learners who have completed Feel Good Futures Training.
One former student described arriving anxious, overwhelmed and fearful of education after years of struggling with work and mental health issues. And leaving with qualifications, confidence, lasting friendships and a job she loves.
Co-founder and Finance Director Emma Hurt said: “This CIC exists because we’ve seen how life-changing the right environment can be.
“When women feel listened to and supported as whole people, not just learners, everything changes.
“Confidence grows, mental health improves, and suddenly a future that once felt out of reach becomes possible.”
Emma made it very clear that nobody should feel written off because of their past, their anxiety, or their circumstances.
Based in Stockport but provides support to women all across Greater Manchester. The aim is to create a space where women feel safe, accepted and supported. Whether you’re returning to education, exploring a career change, or simply just trying to rebuild confidence after a difficult period in your life. You are welcome at Feel Good Futures.
If you would like to get involved, or want more information. Please visit the Feel Good Futures CIC website or their Facebook Page.
MAIN IMAGE CREDIT: Feel Good Futures CIC
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