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Casting a nostalgic eye over the past year, it’s been interesting to see if people remembered the same events in the same way. Take Dave from Aspire Community Enterprise and our CEO Ruth Parrott.

Dave: ‘When I first contacted Ruth about Under the Stars being nominated as our Charity of the Year, she said “no thanks, we only use Macs.”’

Ruth: ‘When Aspire rang me to say we’d been nominated to be their Charity of the Year I said, “no thanks, we only use Macs.”’

How lovely that they both have the same memory of the call! Despite this rocky start, our relationship with Aspire has gone on to be a bit of a love affair, and Dave can laugh about the unsettled beginning now.

‘I just think Ruth thought we were trying to give her old bits of IT hardware, which we absolutely were not,’ he says.

In fact, Aspire’s support has helped our Music workshop staff and participants realise a long-held ambition…

But let’s rewind, back to the start for Aspire. They started out in 2001, with a mission that remains just as strong today:

“..we firmly believe in the power of community and the collective impact we can make when we come together to support one another. Through our initiatives aimed at reducing waste and helping individuals thrive, we strive to be a beacon of hope and opportunity in the local community. By fostering a culture of inclusivity, empowerment, and sustainability, we aim to create a brighter future for all. Aspire Community Enterprise (Sheffield) Ltd remains steadfast in our commitment to making a meaningful difference in the lives of others while championing environmental stewardship and social responsibility.”

So, it’s not all about computers then?

‘No, it’s all about people, and opportunities,’ says Dave. Aspire’s workforce truly reflects its ethos. Many people who are involved wouldn’t find it easy to access traditional employment, but with Aspire they build vital 21^st century skills as well as boost their confidence.

‘We used to get lots of requests for help from different charities and community groups from all over the country. And it took a long time to sift through all the requests and work out the genuine need. So, a couple of years ago one of our Trustees suggested that a more effective way of making sure we helped groups whose work fitted with our mission would be to choose a Charity of the Year.’

The first organisation was Ben’s Centre, a Sheffield based charity that aims to provide a safe space and an open hand to those who are disadvantaged through substance misuse and its associated barriers. As their year came to an end, they were asked to nominate another local charity and chose Under the Stars.

‘It made perfect sense, and I’m surprised we hadn’t thought of Under the Stars before. A couple of people who come and gain skills here are also involved with Under the Stars workshops, so we already knew of the great work going on.’

To give even more context to Ruth’s initial rejection, Under the Stars often receive phone calls from people offering old bits of sub-standard musical equipment, or ‘the monthly organ’ as Ruth calls it, and some people don’t understand when we have to reject their kind donations.

‘We don’t have lots of space to keep spare instruments and kit, so sometimes even brilliant stuff might get turned down. We’re also insistent that our participants get access to industry standard equipment, not just making do, she clarified.

It explains though, the certainty with which her first ‘no’ was delivered to Dave. But with a little bit more talking, Ruth quickly realised that what Aspire was offering was much more meaningful and impactful for Under the Stars as an organisation.

‘We’ve just revamped the offices and taken on a new member of staff, so having Aspire help us get a computer, monitors etc has been brilliant, as that eats up our limited core budget,’ said Ruth.

The biggest opportunity for Under the Stars, however, was being able to work with Dave and his team to get a bespoke computer that could deliver incredible images. And this is something that has been on the Music Workshop wishlist for a long time.

‘Graphics cards of the specification we need to make high quality interactive visuals are not cheap,’ said Jono Richards, one of our Music Workshop Leaders.

‘Having something this powerful means we can integrate sound and visuals, and our participants can produce fantastic images on screen that we can use at events.’ And without the expertise and generosity of Aspire, this just would not be possible.  

And now our year as the beneficiary of expertise and equipment is over, and we have nothing but huge thanks to give to Aspire. The new charity beneficiary for 2025 is Reyt Repair, who do a fantastic job of breathing new life into items destined for the scrapheap, with an aim to ‘reduce waste, save money and bring people together’.

We wish them as successful and rewarding a year as we’ve had. And next time someone offers us the chance to be their Charity of the Year, we will definitely be saying YES!