From Allotment to Entrepreneur: Celebrating Women, Food & Business.

Are you a local woman passionate about providing the best for your family and your community while building a thriving business?

We invite you to an empowering conversation with East End mother and entrepreneur, Latoya Francis, as she shares her journey from homegrown passion to purpose-driven entrepreneurship.

In line with our mission to foster a healthier, more sustainable food system in Glasgow, this event spotlights how one woman is turning her love for organic, healthy ingredients into a powerful tool for wellness and community contribution.

Image by Age Cymru

What You Will Hear and Experience:

• A Personal Journey of Resilience: Hear Latoya's moving story—as a mother, a two-time cancer survivor, and a passionate advocate for natural living—and how these experiences fuelled her focus on health.

• Food, Wellness, and Entrepreneurship: Discover how Latoya uses herbs from her own allotment to create nourishing natural skincare products, demonstrating a powerful link between sustainable growing and ethical business.

• The Power of Local and Organic: Learn about the vital importance of healthy, organic food for children, and how mindful, sustainable choices can benefit both your family and the wider East End community.

• Connect and Network: Enjoy a warm, welcoming space to meet and share ideas with like-minded women who are passionate about ethical food, local business, and community development.

• Support Local: An opportunity to purchase Latoya’s natural, delicious skincare products and treat yourself.

This event is perfect for aspiring female entrepreneurs, community food advocates, parents interested in organic wellness, and anyone passionate about making Glasgow a healthier, more sustainable place.

Latoya Francis is a mother of two from Glasgow, a fierce advocate for healthy, homegrown food, and the visionary founder of her own natural skincare business.

Her life has been one of deep resilience and passion, from early training in nursing and facing personal challenges, to representing the UK in efforts to eradicate poverty in Europe in 2016.

Inspired by motherhood and her own experiences as a two-time cancer survivor, Latoya was driven to focus intensely on natural, organic living. When her first child developed a skin condition, she began exploring gentle, nourishing alternatives, ultimately leading her to create her own effective skincare line using herbs grown in her personal allotment.

Today, Latoya shares her story to encourage others to make small, mindful changes that bring wellness and joy. She powerfully demonstrates how nature can be a profound source of care, creativity, and community for both children and adults.

Latoya is a also proud member of the Glasgow Collective Communities Circle.

Accessibility:

We will be in the community room of The Glasgow Women's Library.

The library is an accessible venue. Please let us know if you have any specific access requirements by emailing U2F0eWEgfCBnbGFzZ293Zm9vZCAhIG5ldA== 

The Community Room is accessible via stairs and a lift, and there is an accessible toilet on the same floor. The event spaces within the library are equipped with a hearing loop / have an induction loop available. 

The Library is wheelchair accessible, with lifts to the first floor and the mezzanine and archive. 

The building has disabled toilets on the ground and first floors, and all the Glasgow Women’s Library bathrooms are individual closed stalls and are gender neutral. 

There is a quite heavy door on the way into the Library – the Libraryy is currently looking into power-assisted doors, but in the meantime their front of house team are available to help with accessing the Library.  

If you need help accessing the building, or would like more information about access, please Satya Dunning at c2F0eWEgISBkdW5uaW5nIHwgZ2xhc2dvd2Zvb2QgISBuZXQ=  

You can listen to an audio descriptive introduction to GWL, produced by VocalEyes, here. This recorded guide highlights GWL’s achievements, detail how to access our resources, outlines our provision for blind and partially sighted visitors, and includes descriptions of the architecture and layout of our building in Bridgeton. 

Map tiles by Stamen Design, under CC BY 3.0. Data by OpenStreetMap, under CC BY SA.

Directions:

The Library is just around the corner from Bridgeton Cross – you can reach the Library on Landressy Street from London Road, or on foot from James Street.

Get directions to Glasgow Women’s Library on Google Maps.

Getting to Glasgow Women’s Library by bus:

Take the 18, 43, 46, 64, 65, 164, 263 or 2 to London Road/Bridgeton Cross

For information on bus services call:

FirstGlasgow: 0141 423 6600
Glasgow Citybus: 0141 954 2255
Scottish Citylink Coaches: 08705 505050

Getting to Glasgow Women’s Library by bicycle:

Cycling Route 75 follows the Clyde to Glasgow Green which is a 3 minute ride from Landressy Street along cycle paths. We suggest using CycleStreets.net to plan your journey to and from GWL.

There are bike racks in the small square on James Street as well as our very own bike shelter which is available for visitors. It is locked but please ask Glasgow Women’s Library front of house team if you would like to use it.

Parking at GWL:

Visitors are encouraged to use greener methods of transport when visiting GWL but understandably using a car is sometimes unavoidable. There is a space on the street outside the Library that is reserved for visitors with mobility issues, but there is no carpark at the Library.

Please contact the Library if you have any questions about access.

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