A SCHEME designed to help female entrepreneurs has provided a cash boost for a Stourport woman running a business that has an environmental spin-off.

Beth Williams is among hundreds who have received support from WiRE - Women in Rural Enterprise - which channels cash from the European Structural Fund - ESF.

Her company, Turtle Bags, aims to reduce plastic pollution by encouraging people to use her eco-friendly bags, bought and produced from ethical sources as an alternative to plastic bags.

She said: "I'm an ecologist by training and I had a bit of a bee in my bonnet about plastic bags and the long-term problems they cause.

"The idea of plastic not being biodegradable made me think about producing something that would be a useful alternative, so I thought 'why not do something practical?' and came up with the idea of the Turtle Bag.

"My objective is to raise awareness, not only about plastic bags but also turtle conservation, as at sea, as on land, plastic is such a problem.

"Plastics never fully degrade and the plastic dust can pass through filters ingested by marine animals. Plastic is highly toxic and 'dust' can get passed up the food chain, ultimately to human consumers.

"In the production of my bags, made of jute and cotton, I want to encourage good environmental practices and try to be as green as possible and I use recycled goods, where feasible.

"The support I have received through WiRE and their support from ESF have enabled me to make the bee in my bonnet to help the environment a reality, which would have been extremely hard without their help."

Julie Edwards, a WiRE network officer, said: "Wire now has 2,000 members. The European Structural funding of £500,000 has enabled us to put on women-friendly local networking events and training workshops, responding to the needs of members and offering the practical help they require.

"Events and training are held at times which suit women with family commitments. Local training and workshops help overcome rural isolation and improve the confidence and contacts for members of WiRE."

More information is available at www.wireuk.org