Surely a tenner isn’t going to have much impact? It’s only 10 pounds after all… For those who give to Aspire, my guess would be that they don’t think their giving is all that impactful. However, I want to take a moment to outline just how impactful that giving truly is. A tenner a month (an individual giving £10 per month) could actually result in an additional £15k of income per year for Aspire. We just need enough people to get involved. We are by no means saying that £10 is a trivial amount of money, in fact, we think it is incredible if someone is willing to hand over £10 of their own money to a cause that might not even directly affect their lives. What we are doing is simply trying to illustrate the power monthly giving has when compounded with lots of other generous folk.
Thanks to GiftAid, for those who give to Aspire and are UK tax payers, we get to claim an additional 25% on top of their donation. Meaning, for every £10 monthly donation, we get £12.50 at no additional cost to the giver. Individually this may not look like much, but combined together with lots of monthly givers we start to get a better picture of the impact. We have illustrated this below.
We already have a strong base of monthly supporters who loyally support our mission each month. Without them we simply would not exist in the capacity we do today. These givers enable us to plan, forecast and where appropriate, grow our team to enable us to work in more schools and more young people. We are incredibly thankful for this base of givers, but if we want to continue to extend our work to more schools and more young people, we need to broaden this base and get even more people involved.
We have the data to back up our impact, with young people on the Aspire programme having an 87% achievement rate at GCSE, compared to the national average of 49% for young people who are free school meal eligible. Currently, for those who are free school meal eligible, their achievement rate is 24% lower than their better off peers. This is what is known as the educational attainment gap.
As a registered charity, we are transparent with our operating costs and income. Our annual income is made up of roughly 3 core sources:
With the ability to secure funding from various trusts and government bodies becoming increasingly more difficult, we are becoming ever more reliant on the generous support from monthly givers and corporate partners. It’s this support that enables us to continue work across Banbridge, Belfast, Craigavon, Lurgan & Portadown. With over 103k children living in relative poverty in Northern Ireland we still have tremendous work ahead of us as we continue our mission of closing the educational attainment gap.
Aspire is governed by a board of seven directors, each specialising in a specific skill set that directly contributes to Aspire’s operations. These skills include business, accountancy, education, youth work, compassionate services and policy. The board provides direction, offering guidance on key decisions that shape Aspire’s growth and impact. The board plays a crucial role in overseeing Aspire’s financial stability, ensuring that funds are well managed and responsibly stewarded. They also work closely with leadership to assess risks, review policies, and ensure that Aspire operates effectively and within the bounds of the law.
Our board meets regularly to review finances, monitor progress, and plan for the organisation’s long-term sustainability. Their dedication ensures that every young person we work with continues to receive the high level of support we offer.
Could you help us work in 2-3 extra schools by becoming a monthly giver? Getting started is easy, simply click here.
If you would like to reach out to us directly to ask any questions about anything discussed in this blog then please do so by clicking here.
