Aspiring Futures C.I.C.

What Aspiring Futures C.I.C. does

Aspiring Futures C.I.C. is a women-led Community Interest Company incorporated in England and Wales in May 2010 (Company No. 07254919), headquartered at The Saplings Building, Windsor Nursery, Parkfield Road, Wolverhampton. It provides holistic support services for women — particularly those from Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BAMER) communities — across mental health, employability, skills training, and family wellbeing. Core service lines include Counselling and Psychotherapy (including the NHS Talking Therapies Plus partnership covering Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, and Wolverhampton), Health & Wellbeing programmes, Information Advice & Guidance (Matrix-accredited), Skills & Qualifications (including NCFE-accredited Level 1 hair, beauty, and nail art training, ESOL, and functional skills), and specialised support groups (Girls Rock, Stay and Play, Minecraft Club). Multilingual delivery spans English, Urdu, Punjabi, Mirpuri, and Romanian.

The technology footprint is intentionally non-proprietary: no platform, mobile app, or AI systems are disclosed. Service delivery runs through face-to-face sessions at the Wolverhampton centre, telephone counselling, digital signposting to NHS Talking Therapies digital resources, a WordPress-based website with newsletter subscriptions, Facebook social presence, and PayPal-based donation processing. This reflects a human-led, trauma-informed, culturally-appropriate delivery model that is the organisation's core differentiator rather than technology scale.

The business model is a hybrid non-profit revenue stack. The largest share is grant and commissioned-service income from public-sector and charitable funders including the UK Government, West Midland Combined Authority, City of Wolverhampton Council, Lloyds Bank Foundation, the National Lottery Community Fund, Smallwood Trust, and the NHS. Supplementary fee-based revenue comes from face-to-face counselling (£45/hour) and psychotherapy (£55/hour) under a £20 registration model, NCFE and non-accredited training (£50-£150 per course), annual memberships (£50/year), and tiered PayPal donations (£5-£20). Go-to-market is community-led via Wellbeing Champions, GP and statutory agency referrals (43+ referring organisations), open-access self-referral, and word-of-mouth. Since 2010 the organisation has supported over 5,000 women, of whom 88% are from Minority Ethnic communities.

Name

Aspiring Futures C.I.C.

Legal name

Aspiring Futures CIC

Website

https://aspiring-futures.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Aspiring Futures C.I.C. is a women-led Community Interest Company in Wolverhampton delivering holistic mental health, employability, skills training, and wellbeing services primarily for BAMER women, funded through public-sector grants, NHS commissioning, charitable trusts, and modest fee-based services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Health and Social Services for Women

NAICS

Individual and Family Services (6241), Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians) (621330), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Child and Youth Services (62411), Offices of Other Health Practitioners (6213)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Mental Health & Crisis Support Services (BPAGAEAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Maternal Mental Health Telehealth (perinatal anxiety/depression, support programs) (HLALAHAH), Mental Health Counseling & Therapy Services (K–12) (EDAJALAG)

Keywords

• Women's community services
• Counselling and psychotherapy
• Employability training
• ESOL and skills training
• BAMER women support

Headquarters

HQ city

Wolverhampton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Counselling and Psychotherapy Services: Fee-for-service model for face-to-face counselling (£45/hour) and psychotherapy (£55/hour); initial telephone assessment and 4 free telephone sessions after £20 registration fee; extended sessions offered at affordable cost
2. Training and Qualification Courses: NCFE accredited Level 1 qualifications in hair, beauty and nail art courses (£120-£150); non-accredited training from £50; ESOL and functional skills courses
3. Membership Fees: Annual membership fee of £50 providing concessionary rates for chargeable services, access to learning resources, training, professional development, and participation in annual service review
4. Commissioned Services and Public Funding: Core revenue from commissioned services and public funding including grants from West Midland Combined Authority, UK Government, Wolverhampton Council, Lloyds Bank Foundation, Community Fund, Smallwood Trust, and NHS partnerships
5. Donations: Public donations via PayPal supporting specific service tiers (£5 for social connection groups, £10 for youth activities, £20 for financial independence support)

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Aspiring Futures C.I.C. delivers a holistic portfolio of women-focused community services in Wolverhampton, including confidential counselling and psychotherapy, NHS-aligned Talking Therapies Plus, employability and skills training (ESOL, functional skills, hair and beauty qualifications), health and wellbeing programmes, information advice and guidance, and dedicated support groups. Services are accessed via open access self-referral, GP/healthcare referrals, or commissioning by statutory agencies and charitable funders.

Product overview

Aspiring Futures C.I.C. is a women-led social enterprise offering a comprehensive portfolio of community support services in Wolverhampton. The organization operates as a single unified service model combining Advice & Guidance, Health & Wellbeing, Counselling and Psychotherapy (including Talking Therapies Plus), Skills & Qualifications (including ESOL and Hair & Beauty training), and specialized support groups such as Stay and Play, Minecraft Club, and Girls Rock. Services are available through open access (self-referral) or agency referral, delivered face-to-face, by telephone, or digitally. The Empowering Women Programme serves as a flagship employability intervention, while commissioning services allow partner organizations to refer clients to the holistic service ecosystem.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Counselling and Psychotherapy Confidential and empathetic counselling and psychotherapy for women, children and young people addressing stress, anxiety, depression, domestic violence, caring issues, bereavement, eating disorders and menopause, delivered face-to-face, by telephone, or online by female counsellors fluent in multiple languages.
• Talking Therapies Plus Free NHS-aligned mental health support service for anxiety, stress and depression, led by Aspiring Futures in Wolverhampton and offered in partnership with Cruse Bereavement Support, Wolverhampton LGBT Plus, Serenity Counselling and ACCI, with multilingual therapists and digital therapy access.
• Information, Advice and Guidance Personalised information, advice and guidance empowering women and girls with confidence and skills to follow their aspirations, including service discovery and decision-making support based on individual needs, circumstances and interests, delivered to Matrix standard.
• Health and Wellbeing Programmes helping women connect with others, improve health and develop life skills, including self-care workshops, food and mood advice, physical activities, arts and crafts, ESOL for health, befriending, mental health workshops, peer support and family activities.
• Skills and Qualifications Courses and personal development opportunities including ESOL, literacy and numeracy, functional skills in English and maths, hair and beauty, mentoring and coaching, CV writing, job applications and interview skills, plus group counselling workshops for coping with depression and anxiety.
• Empowering Women Programme A five-week person-centred employability programme for women aged 18+ with health conditions, improving health, mental wellbeing and employment chances through interactive workshops tailored to individual needs.
• Hair and Beauty Training NCFE Level 1 accredited and non-accredited courses in nail art application, basic make-up application, women's hair styling and temporary hair colouring, delivered over 4-8 weeks in-person or online with in-house or NCFE certification.
• Stay and Play Parent and child group led by a qualified counsellor who can identify post-natal issues and provide support, enabling parents to form support networks in a relaxed environment.
• Minecraft Club Group for children aged 6-12 aimed at improving confidence through team projects on Minecraft, helping younger children transition to high school by building familiarity with older children.
• Girls Rock Group sessions for girls aged 11-17 focused on building confidence, learning resilience, relaxation and mindfulness techniques, providing a safe space to make friends with a qualified counsellor and children's worker.
• Commissioning Services Holistic wellbeing, mental health, advice, guidance, training and peer support services available for commissioning by other organisations, specialising in mental health support, pre and post-crisis services for women, BAMER women support and family support services.

Quantifiable outcome

• 90% improvement in mental health (PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores)
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Talking Therapies Plus service covering Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton; Aspiring Futures leads the Wolverhampton service as part of this partnership meeting NICE guidelines
• Cruse Bereavement SupportcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Talking Therapies Plus Wolverhampton providing bereavement support services
• Wolverhampton LGBT PluscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Talking Therapies Plus providing support services for LGBTQ+ people in Wolverhampton
• Serenity CounsellingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Talking Therapies Plus providing counselling services
• ACCIcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Talking Therapies Plus service delivery in Wolverhampton
• City of Wolverhampton CollegeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDelivers accredited ESOL courses at Aspiring Futures premises; partnership for educational delivery
• Krav Maga (Richard Talbot)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeliverer of The Stay Away Programme self-defence classes for women and relaxed boxing classes for women and children

Scale indicators22 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Refuge: UK's largest specialist provider of gender-based violence services, including refuges, outreach, and independent domestic violence advisors. Shares Aspiring Futures' domestic abuse and women's empowerment focus but operates nationally with substantially larger scale and funding base.
• Women's Aid Federation of England: National umbrella and service delivery organisation for domestic abuse support in England. Comparable mission (women affected by abuse), overlapping counselling and advocacy services, and similar reliance on local authority and statutory commissioning, but operating at national scale rather than single-city.

Direct peers

• WomenCentre (Halifax): Single-site women's centre in Calderdale combining counselling, mental health, employability, training and family support. Operates a near-identical holistic model to Aspiring Futures and serves similar deprived-area, BAMER-inclusive populations.
• Southall Black Sisters: West London-based specialist organisation serving BAMER women facing domestic violence, mental health, and immigration issues. Highly comparable on target population (BAMER women), service mix (counselling, advocacy, advice), and culturally tailored women-only model.
• Ananna: Manchester-based specialist charity supporting women and girls affected by exploitation, trafficking, and abuse with counselling, advice and training. Similar in size, service mix and focus on marginalised women including BAMER communities.
• Ashiana Network: London-based specialist BAMER women's organisation providing counselling, refuge, advice and training. Highly comparable culturally tailored model, multilingual staff, and combined mental health / domestic abuse / skills offering.
• BAWSO: Wales-based specialist BAMER women's organisation providing counselling, refuge, advocacy and employability services. Very directly comparable on target community, multilingual service delivery, and combined mental health / skills / domestic abuse model.
• Savera UK: Liverpool-based specialist charity supporting women and girls at risk of 'honour'-based abuse and forced marriage, with counselling and advocacy. Comparable on specialist BAMER women's mental health and abuse-recovery mission.
• The Maya Centre: London-based women's mental health charity offering low-cost counselling, group work, and training to women on low incomes. Closely comparable on women-only counselling model, BACP-accredited therapists, and affordable pricing structure for mental health.

Regional players

• Yellow Door: Southampton-based charity delivering counselling, domestic abuse support, sexual violence services, and youth programmes. Comparable multi-service women-focused model and reliance on local authority/NHS commissioning, though serving a different UK region.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/aspiring.futures
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aspiring-futures-c-i-c-

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aspiring Futures C.I.C.