BUDDING female entrepreneurs and businesswomen in Wyre Forest will be able to get a helping hand thanks to £75,000 in Government funding.

A series of free "Women2Web" networking sessions will be held during the coming months, including one in Bewdley and another in Kidderminster.

Worcestershire County Council successfully applied to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport's Superfast Broadband Challenge fund for the grant.

Some of the £75,000 for the new Women2Web project is being used to fund the series of networking sessions for women business owners and budding female entrepreneurs.

The County Council applied for the money in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Small Business and Midwest Rural Enterprise Network and WiRE.

As well as the sessions, there will be free training and one-to-one mentoring for women who want to start up new businesses or to help existing companies to grow.

Topics covered will include how to set up an online business, creating and maintaining a website, social media, using faster broadband and online security.

The Bewdley session will be on October 11 from 10.30am to 12.30pm at St George's Hall, Load Street.

And, on November 4, a similar session will be held at Community House, Stourport Road, Kidderminster, from 10.30am to 12.30pm.

Councillor Simon Geraghty, Worcestershire cabinet member for economy, skills and infrastructure, said: "This is a fantastic, free opportunity for female business owners across the county to access tailored workshops and training sessions to help support their business growth and understand the benefits that superfast broadband can have on their business.

"For those women who are thinking about starting their own business, it will give them the basics and help equip them with the knowledge they need to make their business dreams a reality."

Anyone interested in the project can register for it at Business Central on 0300 1231440 or by visiting http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/cms/start-up/women-2-web-worcestershire.aspx.