Women will be meeting up for coffee next month in a new Internet initiative that also raises awareness for Macmillan Cancer.

The annual "world's biggest coffee morning with Nescafe" will this year be taking place online at www.connectwomen.com.

On 1 October celebrities including Eastenders' Patsy Palmer and ITN's Dermot Murnaghan, will help promote the event by answering questions and chatting online.

The www.connectwomen.com Web site was created by Cable and Wireless to encourage women to get online and offers simple instructions on how to navigate and use the Internet while raising money for Macmillan. C&W has also created a tutorial CD-Rom guide to the Internet.

The site will allow users to take part in an online auction, look at the ITN news and shop at high street stores. For each purchase made online a donation will be made to Macmillan Cancer Relief. Cable and Wireless will also donate £1 for every person that registers to their Internet Lite service.

The site is one of many initiatives launched recently aimed at encouraging women online. Last week Boots launched handbag.com, a Web site designed to draw women on to the Internet and other retail outfits are hot in pursuit.

River Island, the clothing company, launched its Web site this week, offering information on the latest styles and clothing available from their high street stores.

Analysts suggest the online market for women is expected to grow much faster as there is a whole new market for content and growth.

Andy Brown, research analyst at IDC, said: "With the increasing numbers of PCs in homes, the number of consumers going on to the Internet is increasing rapidly. Companies will see women as a new target as it is a market largely untouched so far."

Alison Adam, chair of organisation Women in Computing, said: "It is nice to see the initiative as long as it is not a cynical marketing policy. It is a positive message for women, but we will have to wait and see if more women go on the Internet as there is still a problem with access."