Target reached!
Extra money will help us to assist individuals on one to one basis, and will allow u...
To assist those who aspire
Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom
Aim
We support refugees and asylum seekers to fulfil their potential through accessing higher education, scholarships and employment
Aspiring Dreams CIC
We run education & employment support programmes!
We're creating a community space where people can meet other likeminded people and learn from them to aspire forward.
How did the idea emerge?
Our founder sought asylum in the UK 10 years ago, upon her arrival she wanted to make sure that she could do more with her life here, to up-skill herself and progress ahead.
With an asylum background, it wasn’t easy to find and fund a place at university but by getting to know the system and successfully applying for a scholarship she was able to secure a place.
There are many people arriving as refugees in the UK who share the same struggles with accessing education and to enable them to integrate and to contribute to society, access to such opportunities are essential.
© UNHCR/Gordon Welters
What we do
Aspiring Dreams CIC has lived experience at its core and therefore aims to support those arriving in the UK with a refugee and asylum seeking background to access the education system.
Aspiring Dreams CIC will work with individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, especially those from asylum seeking, refugee, limited leave to remain and humanitarian protection, to find their way into education and employment.
We will work within the network of organisations that represent marginalised individuals, offering 1-2-1 support to those who have faced difficult challenges to come to the country, whether it be due to domestic abuse, financial difficulties or other reasons.
Our services
Deliver access to education workshops
Clearing up the misconceptions surrounding education; that people from asylum seeking backgrounds cannot access student finance to enable them to pursue further education.
Individual support
We work with people on a 1-2-1 basis helping them to find the correct education for them, supporting them directly with the application and scholarship process.
So why is it important?
- People have left a lot behind and in order to overcome their own negative experiences and challenges, they need support
- There’s a lot of difference between how the education system works here in the UK and in other countries
- Connecting people to a community of people who can support and help them, makes a huge difference in their ability to tackle this challenge on their own
- Every single human being has the inspiration and ambition to move forward but the information that’s there to support them isn’t available or accessible to everyone and we need to change that
- The system here in terms of employability and how you apply for a job is very different compared to many other countries, overcoming this barrier is one of the best ways in which we can promote further integration into society and more cohesive international communities.
This project successfully funded on 28th July 2023