Community Foundation - Serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland

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• Success Stories
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Films in Action

Sunderland Carers Centre

Chopwell and Blackhall Mill Live at Home Scheme 

Tyneside Cyrenians 

South Tyneside Churches Key Project 

Gateway Into the Community 

Berwick upon Tweed Community Development Trust

Berwick upon Tweed Community Development Trust work with local people and community groups to  make Berwick a better place to live, work and play. It has transformed the former job centre in Berwick into a community building, used by local groups for a community café, office and meeting space. It is also involved in the organisation of the Borders Green Festival, Berwick Jazz Festival and hosted the Berwick International Film and Media Arts Festival.

Amongst others, it has received a three-year grant from the Local Action on Global Issues Fund to employ a Project Worker to help move families in Berwick and the surrounding area towards a more sustainable way of living. The project is raising awareness of environmental concerns and encouraging people to take practical and easy changes in their homes and communities that will make a difference to the environment

"The project is really making an impact in Berwick and further afield in the borough .  More people are coming to me with ideas for reducing and recycling materials  and they are taking the messages on board and making changes. I've made lots of connections with local groups, schools and the councils on both sides of the border, who will come together to promote sustainable lifestyles at our 4th annual Border Green Festival on 29th June." 

 

Northern Initiative on Women and Eating

The Northern Initiative on Women and Eating is the only support service for women experiencing eating distress in the whole of the North of England. It provides a confidential telephone support service and runs therapy and counselling sessions across Tyne & Wear and Northumberland. A pilot programme highlighted the desperate need for support of this kind in Morpeth and Berwick upon Tweed. Grants from the Local Giving Fund, the Joseph Brough Charitable Trust and the Ringtons Fund at the Community Foundation combined to ensure that confidential group therapy sessions could begin in these two areas.

West End Refugee Service

The West End Refugee Service works with over 1,500 refugee and asylum seekers. The project offers practical support such as welfare and housing advice and clothing. It also offers emotional support and a befriending service with over 70 local volunteers. The volunteers are crucial to the entire organisation. Three years ago the management committee recognised that if they did not offer their volunteers more support and set up a regular programme to recruit more volunteers, they would not be able to support as many people as they do. Many of the new volunteers are refugees themselves who have been supported by the programme. The volunteering provides vital work experience that helps them to secure paid employment for the long term. Thanks to the Included Communities Fund, they were able to employ a Volunteer Co-ordinator for three years. 

Bridge Project

The Bridge Project supports women in Washington. It provides education and training, a listening service, therapy sessions and is a constant source of social activities which all help to build the confidence of local women. Four years ago, the project started a programme specifically for young women aged 15 – 19 years. The programme focuses on helping to support young mothers and helping them develop skills through activities, which they would not normally have the chance to experience. The Tyne & Wear Local Network Fund provided a grant of £2,550 for the young people to take part in a Team Building weekend in County Durham.

Chopwell and Blackhall Mill Live at Home Scheme

Based in rural Gateshead, the project is dedicated to ensuring that older people can continue to live in their own homes, but be supported to play a full and active part of the local community. It provides a host of services aimed at including people such as one to one befriending visits, events, outings, advocacy, lunch clubs and a telephone link. Realising that most of the people who made use of the activities were women, the project decided to set up a men’s group for the older men living locally, many of whom are ex miners. The UK Land Estates Fund and the Akzo Nobel International Paint Fund both made grants totalling £3,000 to set up a fortnightly men’s social club.