Welcome to Inspire Middleton
Inspiring people, places, & organisations;
we are local people working together seeking to build a better place to live, work, and visit.
What are we about
We are a local charity helping to inspire our community and make Middleton a better place to live, work and visit.
Our passion is… to inspire, to promote, and to participate. We believe that local people need to be involved in shaping their future, and many local folk have a great deal to contribute. We want to give opportunities and support for this to happen.
Our work focuses on
Inspiring people, places and organisations.
Inspire Middleton is a local charity set up to promote community development. We do this by helping others to improve their lives and life situations, through encouragement and support to make the best of who they are.
This means that we inspire and encourage them to get involved and participate in making a difference for the benefit of the town and all who live in it.
At the same time we actively reach out to those in need and those who are not able to help themselves so that they too can be given a chance to play a fuller role in the community.
Local Needs
Indices of deprivation for Middleton highlight its underlying social, economic, health and employment needs, on top of which, people also experience multiple deprivations and disadvantages which makes advancing in life, being active in the community, and getting back into work that much more challenging.
Some of the needs effecting Middleton include:
High unemployment
Poor long term health and life expectancy
Poverty and debt
Mental health – lack of services and provision for Middleton
Isolation and social exclusion
Digital exclusion and lack of basic IT skills and access to the internet
Lack of services and support
Multiple deprivations / disadvantages and personal problems
Our Values
Our work is fully inclusive and we reach out and support everyone who has need regardless of who they are.
Our values & motivation come from our Christian commitment, and this is what leads us to care for all the people that we support irrespective of their own background and belief, or even if they have none.
Our values are worked out in these three ways…
Our Achievements
It is widely recognised that at different times in our lives most people will experience difficulties and challenging seasons, for some these can have a serious and long lasting effect on how they live and function within society.
This is the arena that Inspire Middleton has set itself up in, and in response…
our work is about inspiring, helping, and supporting individuals, so that they can move on in life, by improving their circumstances, and increasing their potential of becoming more active within the community.
To record our journey and provide information about what we have done, and what are doing to in order to advance our objectives, we have provided access to our annual reports which record and set out our progress and achievements over the years. These give us things to reflect on, things to celebrate, and things to value…
We realise that not everything can be captured in a summary report, so please read the other parts of our website, and look at our Lighthouse Project and Middleton central Foodbank websites sites to get a wider perspective on the full extent of the things that we do, and support.
Annual Reports
The Charity was founded in June 2008, the date the vision was publicly launched. Our financial year runs between April to March so these achievement reports cover that period for each of the years that Inspire Middleton has been operating. We trust that you find interest and inspiration from our journey.
Our beginnings
Warwick Mill
Warwick Mill
Cromer Mill - 6 months
Middleton Shopping Centre
Governance
The charity is governed by a group of trustees who meet together along with the Lighthouse project centre manager, Pam Semp, to discuss and oversee the work of the Charity and all it’s varying project activities. They also provide support to the day-to-day work through use of their skills, experience and volunteering in practical ways.
Three members of the current trustee board have been with the organisation since it was founded in June 2008.
The current Board of Trustees are:
- Carl Roach – Founder Trustee / Chair
- Michelle Lee – Founder Trustee / Secretary
- Janet Roach – Founder Trustee / Treasurer
- Kelly Hughes – Trustee
- Benny Mudzingwa – Trustee
- Shereen Howarth – Trustee
Trustee / Chair
Carl Roach
Carl is one of the founding trustees; he has a mix of skills and experience. He originally trained, qualified in property as a Chartered Building Surveyor and was a partner in a multi-disciplinary consultancy practice for many years, after which he moved into community work. He has worked in business and the voluntary community sector for over 35 years, and has experience in Management, Transformational Leadership, and Community Development. He is also a local church leader. He works as the Charity’s Development manager.
trustee / Secretary
Michelle Lee
Michelle is one of the founding trustees; she started her career by working as a nurse and has steadily progressed through a range of different roles within the NHS and Health profession. She has held several high level management roles within the NHS and is currently Managing Director of a leading healthcare company working in the North West. She has been involved in community work for over 30 years some of which was as director of Kids Praise Theatre workshop working with children and young people in Middleton for over 25 years.
trustee / Treasurer
Janet Roach
Janet is one of the founding trustees; she is a fully qualified Chartered Accountant and has been working in private practice for over 30 years, looking after many types of organisation, charities, and businesses. She has also been involved in community and faith based voluntary work, and youth work for 35 years. She has been a trustee of an African missionary organisation working with disadvantaged children and orphans in East Africa, and a local Child Contact centre in Middleton.
Trustee
Kelly Hughes
Kelly joined the board in 2011 as one of it’s trustees; she is a qualified Primary School Teacher and has been in full time teaching since 1999 working in mainstream and community schools. She has experience in the practice of co-operative learning, and structures for engagement, whole brain based learning and in developing creative curriculum’s. She is currently involved in educational development working through a UK Charity operating in Uganda. She has experience of community based voluntary work having been part of Middleton’s Street Pastors team, and leading a local church based youth group.
Trustee
Benny Mudzingwa
Benny joined the board in 2011 as one of it’s trustees; he is a highly trained and qualified Social Worker and has worked throughout the North West in many different Senior Social work settings. He has worked a lot with individuals and families in crisis, seeking to offer support and is experienced in resolve challenging situations. He is a local church leader and has experience of leading many different types of small groups.
Trustee
Shereen Howarth
Shereen joined the board in 2019 as one of it’s trustees; she has worked in the personal finance and banking sector for many years. Recently she changed direction and is now Director of her own Estate Agency and Property Management Company working in the North West and beyond.
Public Benefit Statement
During the year the Charity provides benefit to the public in a number of ways, primarily through the provision of activities and services through its Lighthouse Project drop-in community centre. The centre opens at least 5 days a week, and all of our events, meetings, activities and services are available for the benefit of the public.
Public Benefit Summary
Some of the specific public benefit we provide includes:
- A safe place for people to visit, and meet with others so they can access support, advice and guidance to help them advance in life and have access to opportunities to improve themselves.
- Free access to use the internet for those who do not have this at home and are therefore digitally excluded.
- Provision of access to basic computer skills courses, and training opportunities to develop skills, abilities and gain qualifications.
- Opportunities to ‘belong’ to wider groups of people, to volunteer to help and support others, and to participate in activities.
- The provision of activities in support of families and family life.
- The provision of a food club for families struggling to meet all thier monthly outgoings. The club helps to reduce their weekly food costs leaving more money to cover other household costs.
- Improved access to health, well-being and mental health resources.
- Provision of free personal debt advice and support, money management and budgeting skills courses and resources.
- The provision of emergency food parcels through Middleton Central Foodbank, to support people experiencing food poverty and crisis.
- Provision of rooms and spaces that the community, other charities, and public groups and organisations can use and hire.
Groups & Individuals who benefit
Those who benefit from these activities and services, include;
- Members of the general public
- People who are unemployed, and those in employment
- Socially isolated / excluded / lonely
- Sufferers from depression / anxiety / mental health
- People with physical and emotional disabilities, seen and unseen
- Young people
- Families and children
- Dads/mums
- Lone parents
- Separated
- Ex-offenders
- People experiencing addictions
- Foreign nationals / refugees
Evaluations
Visitor Survey / Evaluation 2019
In 2018 we carried out another visitor survey to gather information and feedback from our visitors and partners about our work. To find out what it meant to them, and how we have been changing lives. Below is a summary of our findings, which are very encouraging and in line with our previous surveys. Enjoy.
You can download a pdf version of these survey results – here.
Evaluations
In 2015 we carried out a major evaluation of our work, here are the findings.
More evaluations will be published here soon *
