In 2009, Realise was born to unleash the potential of people and communities across North Staffordshire. As the charitable arm of we are aspire, working with Aspire Housing and PM Training, over 10,000 people have been supported over the past 10 years. Here is our story…
Realise is born
The Wammy project was the very first environmental project funded by Realise Charity. The pupils at Knutton St Mary’s Primary School were invited to take part in a competition to design a sign for The Wammy public parkway. The winning design was by Felicity Higginbottom and was manufactured by PM Training.
Nicola Hudson was the very first PM Training apprentice who was supported by a grant provided by Realise Charity. The grant was given to her employer, Daniel and Hulme estate agents, to enable Nicola to start her career journey. Since then, she has progressed to become an Officeworks Manager at PM Training, helping advise learners in their own career journeys.
The residents in Thistleberry-based Falkirk Grange, felt their outside garden area could be of real benefit to them. After speaking with Realise charity, the project took off! The garden was re-developed by learners of PM Training, allowing residents to sit and enjoy the outdoor area around their homes.
Matthew Nutt, 18, who lives in Basford, is the 100th apprentice to receive funding from Realise Charity.
Realise charity helped young members of the Hartshill Scouts develop an area to fully enjoy their camping experiences. The project allowed young people use of the area to practice lighting fires and trying campfire cooking under the supervision of well qualified and experienced leaders. The project marked the groups’ 100th anniversary.
This moving garden was funded by Realise charity, PM Training supported the build with help from Aspire volunteers. The garden’s aim was to create a soothing, calming outside space where newly bereaved parents can spend time close to their loved child prior to the funeral.
27 PM Training learners were supported with bursaries up to £500 each. The bursaries, managed in partnership with Staffordshire Community Foundation, included items such as laptops, tools, textbooks and bus passes. Realise charity are proud to be a support network for learners, giving them the assets they need to succeed in their career path. Even travel can be an issue for a young person, bus passes allow learners to be able to access public transport without having to worry about the cost.
This milestone marks the 1000th apprentice beneficiary, Realise charity has supported.
Moto in the community donated an amazing £1000 to Realise charity, to help people in the community. The money went towards helping young people get into work and regenerating communities in North Staffordshire.
Aspire Housing tenant Kayleigh Beesley, received help from Realise charity to help fund her with IT equipment for College. This equipment has helped her to help progress her education whilst leading a busy lifestyle with children.
This environmental project is based at The Wolseley Centre Reserve and visitor facility located just outside Rugeley. It was funded by Realise charity and constructed by PM Training’s Artworks team. The project consisted of a spiders web, birds and a butterfly tower.
The Peter Pan nursery, in Hoon Avenue, Wolstanton, supports parents and carers of children with special needs from Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle and Cheshire. The nursery’s garden underwent a massive transformation, funded by Realise charity, it helped bring life to a garden where children and their families could play safely outside.
This moving memorial was created by PM Training and funded by Realise charity for Newcastle Borough Council. It was created to mark the 100th anniversary since the start of WW1. The sculpture is of Vera Brittain, she did a lot of campaigning for women’s suffrage and highlighted the impact on the population of losing male loved ones through the War.
Jackie Adams raised £586 for Realise charity, at a charity boxing event. The mother-of-two who runs Jack’s Convenience Store in Norton has always been a charitable person, regularly raising money for cancer charities. She added: “I would encourage others to consider doing something to raise money for Realise charity, it’s a great charity which is making a real difference to local young people, it’s worth shouting about.”
A teenager, with a passion for canoeing, was supported by Realise charity, as he targeted a place in future Olympics. Chris Bowers, aged 16, from Newcastle, applied for a bursary of £500 towards his new boat. Since then in 2018, Chris competed at the World Championships in Rio where he won gold in the Men’s K1 Team event with Joe Clarke and Bradley Forbes-Cryans.
This milestone marks Micheal Beesley and his first ‘Run for Realise’! Michael has raised over £1000 for Realise and has been a fantastic supporter for the charity. His money has helped change many peoples lives in our communities.
In October 2016, we are aspire underwent a brand refresh.
Realise charity supported the production of the ‘Brown Trout’ metal sculpture which sits in Newcastle-under-Lyme’s town centre. With support from PM Training’s Artworks team, the piece was produced for Britain in Bloom.
This milestone marks the start of our partnership with Wavemaker Stoke. Through Realise funding, digital classes were made available apprentices to learn about 3D printing, digital tech and the internet over a five-week course.
Joe Warren, aged 18, from Blythe Bridge, completed his CSCS training to ensure he has the health and safety awareness to work on building sites. This training was paid for by Realise charity.
This milestone marks the start of the partnership with the Alice Charity. Realise fund some of the charity’s Big Cup sessions, allowing new parents to take part in sessions which help prevent isolation, encourage socialisation and friendship with other new parents.
This milestone marks the start of the work Realise is doing for the Foodbank. Realise has offered space to the Foodbank to allow them to store greater amounts of stock, therefore helping more people in the community!
In December 2017, Realise charity started partnership with Mind, offering valuable mental health counseling for learners at PM Training.
Apprentice Tilly Isherwood, is the 500th apprentice beneficiary! Tilly had funding off Realise charity towards her driving lessons. Tilly, from Chesterton, is a business admin apprentice in the Aspire Housing’s asset management team. Setting goals is part of her NVQ qualification, and learning to drive was top of the list. “I’d been putting it off because my family had a few financial pressures. So the £100 from Realise Charity helped me get started with four lessons.”
On World Circus Day, 21st April 2018 Realise charity, honored the father of modern circus, Philip Astley, with the unveiling of a series of bespoke 15ft metalwork sculptures.
June 2018, marks the 8000th beneficiary milestone. This means 8000 members of the community have been supported by the Realise charity. The Realise charity support so many projects and activities in communities from workwear, toolkits, exercise classes, bursaries and much more! See here how many people have been impacted by the Realise charity.
June 2018, marked the 5000th toolkit which was gifted to a PM Training apprentice by Realise charity. These toolkits are a vital part of an apprentices kit for working in a trade. Toolkits provide the basis of supplies needed for apprentices to go into work. The contents of a toolkit consist of items such as paintbrushes, measuring tools and more. These items can be expensive for young people to buy individually so they are an invaluable asset.
Realise charity support learner enrichment trips, allowing learners at PM Training to experience independent travel and visit places such as London and Liverpool!
Learner Kyle Burke, received financial help from Realise to help support his career journey. After having his phone smashed, Realise charity and PM Training quickly helped Kyle with a new pay-as-you-go phone, breakfasts and sandwiches.
The Poppy Garden of Silverdale is one of the most moving projects Realise charity has been part of. This work features 123 hand-crafted poppies in memory of the 123 people from the Silverdale area who lost their lives during WW1.
Three multi-skill maintenance apprentices, have been rotated to help maintain charity shops and hospices for The Donna Louise Trust and Douglas Macmillan Hospice across the area. An experienced handyman, provided by Staffordshire-based PM Training, has been seconded to maintain the charity properties, accompanied by the apprentices. The service is funded by Realise charity.
Realise charity supported PM Training learners with £50 towards the start of their enterprise challenge journey. This money allowed learners to get the kit they needed to start their car wash business!
2019 celebrates the 10th anniversary of Realise charity. #WeSupportCommunities
On 24th May 2019, we held our Realise charity ball! The ball was a 10-year celebration of the Realise charity.
PM Training’s Artworks team have created an amazing series of bicycles in memory of ex-councillor and Aspire Board Member, Brian Tomkins. The project was funded by Realise charity.
Realise charity have joined with Aspire Housing to provide support to local families in the Silverdale area. Realise charity donated £500 towards new school uniforms.
This water pump, located in the heart of May Bank symbolises how running water in the household was once considered a luxury. The original water pump is just a stones throw away from this Artworks piece and was a focal point in the community.
Learners at PM Training have experienced an amazing day out at Shrewsbury Prison! This trip was funded by Realise charity and gave many learners great insight into what a working prison was like.
PM Training’s Steve Rushton, organised a Darts Event with the help of Bucknall Ex Servicemans Club. The event was a huge success with a many local businesses taking part raising over £12,000 for Realise charity.
25 trees have been gifted by Realise charity for a selection of Aspire Housing customers. These trees were gifted to help more vulnerable customers celebrate the festive season with their families.
Working in partnership with Staffordshire County Council, we were proud to lead on the Covid Support Network for Newcastle-under-Lyme. We have had huge support from volunteers in the local area helping vulnerable people from dog walking, prescription pick-ups, food parcel deliveries and more.
Our team of volunteers riding in our Coast 2 Coast Challange are helping to raise money for Realise charity to help us continue to support people in our communities. Our riders are cycling for 140 miles locally – a challenge that has been reimagined due to the challenges of Covid.
