What have we been up to in June?
Take a look at our Aspire highlights from June!
We celebrated our amazing volunteers at our Volunteer Celebration Afternoon Tea! To say a huge thank you to our volunteers, our staff served afternoon tea, presented our volunteers with thank you cards, and even sang our volunteers a song! It was a lovely afternoon of celebration and giving thanks to our wonderful volunteers who give their time to Aspire!
Following a deliberate act of vandalism and fire-setting to our garden and outdoor space, which provided our women with a safe, welcoming environment where women can feel safe, improve their wellbeing, build confidence, and connect with others in their community, we were left with broken windows, bins being set alight, and damage that has left many of the women who use our services feeling shocked and unsafe.
In response, we were determined to restore the space and ensure it remains a secure and supportive environment for everyone who relies on it. This involved aiming to raise £3,000 to replace broken windows, replace burned bins and damaged items, install security cameras, and fit a protective security shutter.
We set up a GoFundMe page and shared the link far and wide and we were overwhelmed by the generosity of people offering support, financial donations, building work and more! From all of Aspire a HUGE thank you to everyone that has interacted with our fundraiser and our current total stands at a huge £2,075 raised!!!
If you would like to donate, here is a link to our GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/a3f8bdf89
We were pleased to attend the Overcoming Barriers to Volunteering - Volunteers Week Networking Event at Bishop Auckland Town Hall to share about the volunteering opportunities at Aspire and information about our support and learning services for women in the local area!
Val was also pleased to share about the work of Aspire for women in our local area in Tudhoe this month as well!
We were very grateful to receive a generous donation of £1,000 from Pavers Foundation! The manager of Pavers Ambleside, Ren Everitt Moore nominated Aspire on behalf of her mam, Alison Moore, to receive this generous donation as Alison has attended Aspire in previous years and also went on to volunteer for Aspire, and still talks about the positive impact that Aspire has made in her life almost daily. In fact, Ren felt like she knew Aspire already and loved being able to put faces to the names when Val and Colleen visited to receive the cheque.
Ren Everitt Moore is pictured with Val and Colleen and Alison Moore is pictured on the phone with Ren, Val and Colleen as she sadly could not make it down due to ill health.
Directors Val and Colleen had a warm welcome and a lovely cuppa before being presented with the cheque for £1,000 from the Pavers Foundation.
Colleen and Val cannot thank the Pavers Foundation enough for their donation, which will go towards purchasing security shutters following the recent vandalism and would also like to thank both Ren and Alison. To be thought of and remembered of the difference Aspire can make is heart-warming, appreciated and a massive achievement for a small organisation like ours, and this is what drives us to continue!
Aspire have raised £141.93 so far this year thanks to our supporters using #easyfundraising when making online purchases! Please help us to keep up this good work by remembering that you can raise FREE donations for Aspire EVERY time you shop online. Over 8,000 retailers will donate to Aspire, including all the big names, when you shop online, which allows us to continue supporting women in our local area! To support us sign up to Aspire’s easy fundraising page here: https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/aspire-learning-support-and-wellbing
or follow the link on the QR code here:
