A day to celebrate freelancers and entrepreneurs

Today is no ordinary Wednesday, it’s National Freelancers Day, Women’s Entrepreneurship Day and the middle point of Global Entrepreneurship Week. So what do all these national and global days aim to do?

National Freelancers Day

This has been organised by IPSE, the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed for the last six years. This organisation represents all types of freelancers and contractors providing support and lobbying the government to improve conditions for freelancers.

More than 15% of the UK’s workforce is now self-employed and National Freelancers Day celebrates the rise of freelancers and their importance to the UK’s economy. This year it is campaigning for people to support its manifesto, which calls on the government to make it easier to become an independent worker.

To find out more about National Freelancers Day or IPSE, visit the dedicated website or search on Twitter using the hashtag #NFD2014 and follow @teamIPSE.

Global Entrepreneurship Week

This week is Global Entrepreneurship Week, which is a celebration of all start-ups, job creators and independent workers that takes place over more than 140 countries.

It involves a number of activities including pitch competitions, surveys and awareness events.  

According to their impact report, 25,621 activities were arranged last year during the week, with over six and a half million participants.

Find out more by visiting their website, searching #GEW and following @unleashingideas on Twitter.

Women’s Entrepreneurship Day

Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (WED) is being launched today at the United Nations, in partnership with Global Entrepreneurship Week. This is a campaign to raise awareness of female entrepreneurs around the world. It also aims to empower women, particularly in countries where there is less support and fewer opportunities for women to start their own business.

It is promoting its Women on Wednesday (WOW) pledge, which is similar to initiatives like Small Business Saturday and will take place on3rd December.

Find out more by visiting http://www.womenseday.org/ or searching #WED or #WomenWOW and following @Womenseday on Twitter.