A FREE event will showcase local businesses from diverse backgrounds.

The Diverse BCP trade event will take place on Friday, April 22, 10am-2pm, at Boscombe’s Citygate Centre.

It is open to the public and will feature local businesses including 4Kicks, Thrive Health and Wellness Store, Touchagreat Services and Alliance Media. They will have an opportunity to network, spread information about their products or services, and build relationships in the community.

The day will also offer access to business support services, funding and charitable support, with BCP Council, Dorset Growth Hub and other services on hand.

Diverse BCP itself is a new online business directory that allows residents to discover local diverse businesses. It was created with financial support form the council and provides access to products, services and community news which will be available in several languages.

The founder of Diverse BCP, Bea Sieradzka organises the annual World of Love Festival, which has been celebrating cultural diversity and inclusion in Dorset since 2019.

She said: “The pandemic and even the recent Ukraine conflict has had huge detrimental effects on business growth for everyone but it’s even more difficult for diverse businesses, especially those who are customer-facing.

“By eliminating the language barrier and offering a single point of contact website, we’re excited at being able to promote these diverse businesses and the services they offer. It will also increase networking opportunities and the ease in finding these popular businesses in the community.

“Ultimately it will help boost the local economy and benefit us all culturally.

“A diverse business is not just the heritage background of the owners, but it’s also about the culture that it represents, the employees and the cultural collaborations that a company creates. Diversity can have different meanings and it’s not just ethnicity.”

More information is at diversebcp.co.uk