Peter Smith [second left] with his team who has made Aspiro a great successBy Sophie Sandberg
Aspiro hosted a fundraising event yesterday, October 30, in Leicester to raise £10,000 that is needed to remain open and help even more people in Leicestershire.
Due to recent financial losses and budget cuts, the Leicester based non-profit enterprise organised a fundraiser to help raise the £10,000 it needs to continue providing its service and help another 1,000 people.
Aspiro has helped 1,000 people across Leicestershire and Rutland who are dealing with mental health difficulties or are struggling with substance misuse with end-to-end employment support since 2011.
Peter Smith, founder of Aspiro and former rough sleeper, said: “We believe that every adult has the right to work.
“After all the hard work myself and my team has put into making Aspiro a success and helping so many residents, including young adults, people recovering from substance misuse, as well as providing the mental health employment service, it will be a disaster for local residents, the businesses who employ our customers and my team if we have to close.”
Aspiro’s employment advisers offer free work & learning information, advice and support through one-to-one sessions in partnership with Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust.
The organisation is also running a recycling scheme called Project Zero, to minimise business waste in Leicestershire and Rutland.
“We tried to expand a few years ago and signed a European contract to help even more people.
“The only downside was that we only got paid by our results and since the competition was so great we didn’t make the money we had hoped for and it was a shortfall in Aspiro’s budget.”
The fundraiser was held at city centre venue The Cookie with performances from international comic poet Rob Gee alongside people talking about their success stories through using Aspiro’s services.
Rob Gee warmed up the audience who enjoyed the fundraiser
Before the fundraiser even took place, Aspiro had already raised £3,250 out of the £10,000 it needs to stay open through donations.
If people would like to donate to the good cause you can access the crowdfunding page at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/aspiro.
More information about Aspiro and the work the team provides can be found on www.aspiro.org.uk.
