What are the opening hours?

Tuesday 10am - 2pm Wednesday 10am - 2pm Thursday 10am - 2pm Friday 10am - 2pm Saturday 10am - 2pm

Purple Shoots

Empowering Dreams, Enriching Communities Purple Shoots works normal office hours but our Shop is open from 10 - 3 daily during the week.

14/10/2026

Business of the week!

This week we are shining a spotlight on Giulia and her salon, Alchemy Skincare and Aesthetics 💜

Giulia originally worked in hairdressing and beauty therapy before starting a family. Following her sadly becoming a widow, she was suddenly a single mum with four children and needed to find a job that would fit into her busy schedule. She decided to start her own business, this is where Purple Shoots were able to step in and offer a loan that allowed Giulia to sign the lease in 2021 and start her own business, Alchemy Skincare and Aesthetics.

Then in 2026, Purple shoots agreed to give Giulia a top up loan so that she could renovate her salon, after lots of hard work the salon is ready to go and Giulia is starting to get busy with clients again, telling us “I finally have my confidence back”

Congratulations Giulia on the new salon refurbishment, it looks great! We look forward to seeing what you do next 💪

12/10/2026

We have been nominated!

Purple shoots are pleased to announce we have been nominated for the Business Champion Award at the Mastering Diversity Awards 2026 🏆

The nomination “recognises Purple Shoots’ work providing responsible finance and practical support to people who are excluded from mainstream business funding. By helping people turn enterprise into a route away from poverty and exclusion, Purple Shoots is opening doors that conventional lending too often leaves firmly shut.”

So much of the work we do isn't flashy, helping people from all walks of life on their journey to building sustainable incomes doesn't often grab headlines, so we are always pleased when our hard work is acknowledged.

Thank you Mastering Diversity Awards for your recognition!

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563748073652

10/10/2026

For World Mental Health Day 2026, we have been thinking about the role community and connection plays in supporting each other for better mental health. For many people who are unemployed or receiving benefits, a sense of community can feel far away.

That is where our self-reliant groups can be an invaluable resource, giving people a common goal and a sense of purpose, as well as helping them to develop long lasting friendships. We have found time and again that when people feel like they are taking back control in one area of their lives, it empowers them to take control of other areas too.

In our impact report published last week, we examined the impact of our self-reliant groups using the Inner Development Goals and found that overall, people who participate in our groups are "building the internal confidence, relationships and capabilities that allow groups to sustain themselves, respond to change and begin shaping what happens beyond the group itself." That is our goal for all our SRG members, to encourage them to begin to rely on each other and build a sense of community and connection without us.

You can read more about our work here

https://canva.link/3vzge1oh6ysnmh0

09/10/2026

Business of the week!

This week we are highlighting Jane Hackett and her wonderful business Peak Performance Massage Therapy 💪

After Jane sustained a life altering back injury in 1995, she spent a year of rehabilitation learning to walk correctly and had to let go of her dream of becoming a horse-riding instructor or of ever being able to ride a horse again.

Not letting this incident hold her back, Jane fought hard at the gym to regain her physical strength and set her sight on a new goal, to become a masseur and start her own business, Peak Performance Massage Therapy, so she could, in her own words, “provide some hope, pain relief and a more positive future for my clients”. Using a loan from Purple Shoots, Jane was able to attract more clients through a successful newsletter advertising campaign. Jane is now undertaking a course in equine massage and a level 3 Personal trainer course.

Keep up the good work, Jane! We can’t wait to see what you achieve next

https://www.peakperformancemassagetherapy.co.uk/

05/10/2026

Last week we published ‘Where Possibility Takes Root: Our 2025–26 Impact Report’, showcasing everything Purple Shoots has achieved over the last year 🌱

Here are a few of the highlights but you can still read the full report by following this link

https://canva.link/3vzge1oh6ysnmh0

02/10/2026

🌱 What does an Impact Report actually tell us?
Our 2025–26 Impact Report, Where Possibility Takes Root, contains plenty of numbers we are incredibly proud of.

£244,422 lent. 64 entrepreneurs backed. 92 jobs created or safeguarded. More than £3.67 million in wider economic value.

But behind those numbers is a much simpler story.
The people we support are often excluded from mainstream finance because of poor credit, benefit receipt, historic debt, irregular income or simply because their circumstances don't fit neatly into conventional lending models.

That doesn't mean they lack potential. Sometimes what stands between someone and a viable business is a relatively small amount of capital (our average loan last year was just £3,820) combined with somebody willing to understand the person, their circumstances and their idea.

In our latest article, we reflect on what this year's Impact Report tells us about risk, financial exclusion and opportunity, alongside what we're learning through our Self-Reliant Groups about confidence, connection and giving people the space to build something for themselves.

Perhaps the biggest lesson is also the simplest:
Potential exists everywhere. Opportunity doesn't.
Our job isn't to create possibility in people. It is already there.

Our job is to give it somewhere to take root. 🌱

👉 Read the full article: https://purpleshoots.substack.com/p/where-possibility-takes-root?r=334jev&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

30/09/2026

🌱 Where Possibility Takes Root.

Our 2025–26 Impact Report is now live, and the numbers tell a powerful story about what can happen when people excluded from mainstream finance are given the opportunity to build something of their own.

This year, Purple Shoots lent £244,422 to 64 entrepreneurs, helping to create or safeguard 92 jobs, one for every £2,657 lent.

The impact reaches much further. That lending is estimated to have generated more than £3.67 million in wider economic value, over £15 for every £1 lent.

Behind every number is a person, a business, a family and a community. People with talent and determination who too often find that potential isn’t the problem..... access to opportunity is.

That’s why we exist!

🌱 Possibility exists everywhere. We just need to give it somewhere to take root.

Read the full Impact Report:
https://canva.link/3vzge1oh6ysnmh0

28/09/2026

🌱 Where Possibility Takes Root: Our 2025–26 Impact Report is here!

This year, Purple Shoots provided 64 loans worth £244,422, helped create or safeguard 92 jobs, and supported 184 people through 38 Self-Reliant Groups.

These small investments have a much bigger impact: our lending is estimated to have generated £1.1m for the public purse and more than £3.67m in wider economic value.

Our report is about more than numbers. It’s about what happens when we look beyond credit scores, circumstances and postcodes and give people the opportunity to show what they can do.

Potential exists everywhere. We just need to give it somewhere to take root. 🌱

🌐 Find out more: https://purpleshoots.org/purple-shoots-2026-impact-report/

📖 Read the full report: https://canva.link/3vzge1oh6ysnmh0

Let us know what you think!

23/09/2026

Ten years. That’s what access to opportunity can become. 🌱

Karen and Emma were proud to join the celebrations marking 10 years of Id's Place an amazing catering business that Purple Shoots funding, alongside support from The Centre for African Enterprise, helped to get started.

Ten years on, it’s still going. Still creating value. Still contributing to its local economy and community.

This is exactly why financial inclusion matters. Too often, talented and determined people are excluded by mainstream lenders because they don’t fit neatly into conventional criteria. Their potential is overlooked and with it, the businesses, jobs and economic activity they could create.

Sometimes a relatively small amount of finance, combined with the right support and someone willing to see the person behind the numbers, can unlock something that lasts for years. Id's Place is wonderful proof of that!

Congratulations on an incredible first decade and here’s to the next ten! 💜🌱

04/09/2026

💜 What does a good loan book look like when you lend to people banks won’t?

It sounds like a simple question. But the more closely we look at our own lending data, the more interesting it becomes.

At Purple Shoots, many of the people we lend to have poor or limited credit histories. Many receive benefits. Many live in some of the most deprived communities in the country. Some are unemployed when we first meet them. Many have already been turned down elsewhere.

These aren’t weaknesses in our loan book. They are the reason we exist.

Of course defaults matter. Arrears matter. We have a responsibility to lend well and protect the capital entrusted to us.

But there is another risk that is much harder to put on a balance sheet:

What happens when nobody lends the £3,000 or £4,000 in the first place?

What happens to the parent who could build a flexible income through self-employment? The person leaving unemployment who has the skills but not the capital to start? The entrepreneur who has been rejected by an algorithm but has a perfectly viable business when somebody actually takes the time to listen?

Our latest Substack looks at what our loan book is teaching us about risk, additionality and how we should measure success in community lending.

Because perhaps a successful community lender shouldn't be judged only by how much money it manages to protect.

Perhaps it should also be judged by how much human potential it is prepared to unlock. 🌱

👇 Read the full piece below.

https://purpleshoots.substack.com/p/what-does-a-good-loan-book-look-like?r=334jev&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Address

Purple Shoots, 2 Church Street , CF37 2TH Opposite The Multi Storey CP And St Catherine's Church
Pontypridd
CF372UF

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 2pm
Wednesday	10am - 2pm
Thursday	10am - 2pm
Friday	10am - 2pm
Saturday	10am - 2pm

Website

http://www.purpleshoots.org/

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