Children North East are leading a partnership of local organisations to deliver a new community experience programme funded by NCS (National Citizen Service) supporting young people across the North of Tyne area. 

The grant is part of an exciting £20m funding package that NCS Trust have awarded to organisations across England providing community-based experiences at a local and grassroots level. These new experiences will provide opportunities for teenagers to engage in local activities that foster skills development, deepen their understanding of the community, and empower them to contribute positively to its improvement.

In collaboration with the National Youth Agency and StreetGames, the project was chosen from over 400 applications, allowing the partners to deliver year-round, community-based opportunities and experiences for any young person aged 16-17 years old wishing to get involved.   

The programme will get underway in late summer 2023 delivering positive activities such as sports, adventurous and outdoor pursuits and creative arts and crafts; designed to be fun, engaging, challenging and enriching. Every young person will get the chance to participate in three ‘experiences’ focusing on giving young people access to opportunities that will develop their life skills and support independent living, increase their employability and work readiness and give them a space to be involved in volunteering and developing a youth-led social action project that benefits their community.  

Children North East is pleased to be working with experienced local organisations, including Newcastle United Foundation; Newcastle College; Off The Grid Adventures; Streetwise; Our1Community; Northumberland Wildlife Trust; Nourish Food School; The National Trust and Seaton Delaval Hall; Success4All and The Enterprise Academy. Each member of the partnership brings unique experience and expertise to youth provision and are committed to working with young people to improve their access to opportunities and experiences that will power their future success. 

Mark Gifford, CEO of NCS Trust, added: “I am delighted to welcome a diverse range of local, grassroots and community organisations from across the youth sector to deliver reimagined NCS experiences. This allows us to reach more young people than ever before, ensuring they are equipped with the skills and perspective to become work ready and world ready. Additionally, our grants for targeted experiences will enable us to reach underserved young people and communities.” 

Over the past decade, more than 800,000 young people have benefitted from an NCS experience, dedicating over 18 million hours to community based social action, while gaining invaluable life experiences. 

For more information about our NCS ‘Open to All’ Community Experiences in the North of Tyne area and how to get involved in opportunities local to you, please contact Una Mac Dermott (NCS Project Coordinator) who would be pleased to put you in touch with one of our local delivery partners at [email protected].

For one North East family, history has come full circle, with a daughter working with the same charity which saved her mum’s life 70 years ago. Sarah Bell is part of the team at Children North East, supporting local families and young people to grow up happy and healthy. The charity also established and funded services at Stannington Sanitorium in Morpeth, which her mum Brenda Bell stayed with to recover from tuberculosis in the 1950s. 

In September 1953, 13 year-old Brenda was diagnosed with TB, a memory which stands out because it was a time people rarely used healthcare services – so a doctor’s visit meant something was very wrong. She soon left her family in Darlington to receive treatment at Stannington Sanitorium, which would become her home for the next 14 months.  

Opening in 1907, the sanatorium was the UK’s first purposely built hospital for children with tuberculosis. In the 50s, the infection was responsible for 1 in 20 deaths across the country, but rates were much higher in the North East. Until the NHS took on the costs of running the Sanitorium, it was funded by local charities, including its founders Children North East, then named the Poor Children’s Holiday Association. 

Despite not being able to see her family often, it’s a time Brenda talks about fondly. “I don’t remember all the details, but there were wards of about 20 of us and we mostly stayed in those groups. Girls in one part of the building, boys down in a different ward. It wasn’t like today, you didn’t have TV and internet for entertainment but we weren’t in bed all the time, we were outside and went to school. We did the same things any young people then would do really, except then you would have to rest a lot.” 

She made friends, including two girls, Margret from Benwell and Dorethy from Darlington, who she has lost touch with over time. They would go on walks together in the local countryside, supervised by staff. One particularly fond memory includes a Christmas trip out to the theatre, where she got to meet Reg Varney from ‘On the Buses’, whose autograph she still has today. 

Although she doesn’t remember it feeling serious at the time, archive letters shared with Brenda by the Woodhorn Museum highlighted the seriousness of the condition at the time for children affected by it. They read, ‘one does not look very far into the future. So much depends on her home, the sort of life she leads and the work she takes up’. Reflecting on the letter Brenda shares, “It could have been different if you didn’t have good food. You might not have survived.” 

Fast forward to 2023 and the story has a new chapter, with Brenda’s daughter Sarah working with the charity on the frontline of young people’s health. Currently she works delivering its Ways to Wellbeing project, that provides help to parents and carers supporting their children through mental health challenges.  

“One of the most rewarding parts of my work is when you meet a young person or a parent and they are in a difficult place – but when you get to the end of the journey with them you can see they leave feeling more confident to tackle challenges and also less isolated. 

“Mental health is one of the biggest health challenges faced by young people today, like TB would have been back then. It feels like this story has come full circle!” 

When asked if she thought much had changed for the generation of young people Sarah works with, Brenda shared, “When I was there [at the Sanitorium] people just had to get on with it. I didn’t see my family much, because my mum would have had to get two or three buses. Today we can speak to each other even if it’s on the phone.”  

She also said she is proud of Sarah, “It’s really good what she does for the young people, it seems like they have a lot to worry about today, more than we did, and she makes a big difference. I’m very proud”. 

This year Children North East is running the first-ever Voices of Hope Awards – which will celebrate children and young people who go above and beyond to make life better for other their peers.  

For the School Day Champion Award, sponsored by Primula Cheese, the charity is asking teachers, school staff, parents and carers to nominate a child or group of children who are making school a better place to learn, play and make friends.  

Do you know a group of pupil working on a special project to make their school a better place? Has a classmate been an amazing friend this year? Do you know a student who goes out their way to be kind?  

Every pupil or group nominated will receive a certificate and a personal communication celebrating how fantastic they are. 

To nominate your School Day Champion all you need to do is email or post their name, age, school and up to 150 words on how they make the school day better (pictures and video also welcome!). 

The deadline for nominations is 10th September.  

Email: [email protected] 

Post: Billie Jenkins, Children North East, 89 Denhill Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE15 6QE 

The Voices of hope Awards are made possible by our fantastic headline sponsors, Countryside Partnerships North East

The outstanding support provided by the children and young people we work with will be recognised at the inaugural Voices of Hope Awards this Autumn. 

Alongside the Awards headline sponsor, Countryside Partnerships North East, and a host of other local organisations, we are coming together to honour the inspiring children and young people who volunteer their time and speak up to help make life better for others across the charity’s 65 services. 

Projects in which awards nominees have taken part include ‘peer mentoring’ and working with local organisations to improve services and access for children living with disability. 

Leigh Elliott, Chief Executive of Children North East, said, “It is incredibly moving to see how much passion and time the children and young people we work alongside give to improving the lives of others . We felt it was time to put a spotlight on their inspiring contributions and give their stories a platform.” 

Countryside Partnerships North East’s sponsorship marks a significant milestone, with the regeneration specialist having donated £75,000 to Children North East to date. 

Christine Curran, Sales Director for Countryside Partnerships North East, added: “As a company we work with a number of charities, but Children North East is particularly poignant, because it is local to us and. it is great to see young people and their families, within the communities in which we work, benefit from the help available.” 

North of Tyne Combined Authority, Primula Cheese, Nucha and Irwin Mitchell are some of the organisations supporting the awards, to be staged in October, through sponsorship and support. 

Awards categories include: 

• Mental Health Champion, sponsored by North of Tyne Combined Authority, for a young person supporting better mental health for young people
• School Day Champion (open to all), sponsored by Primula Cheese, for a pupil or pupils going above and beyond to make the school day better for their peers. 
• Sustainability Champion, sponsored by Nucha, for an individual or group passionate about protecting our planet. 
• Stronger Families Champion, sponsored by North of Tyne Combined Authority, for those helping shape experiences that promote stronger families such as fun activities or raising awareness about support. 

Other categories include a Young Carer Champion, Champion Peer Mentor and Diversity Champion. 

North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll said: “Our child poverty prevention programme is working with 90 schools to reduce inequalities and ensure that our youngsters have the best possible start in life. We help schools to provide mental health and wellbeing support for young people. These awards recognise the diverse and wonderful ways in which children and young people are making an impact with their peers. Best of luck to all the nominees – the future is theirs – let’s celebrate their achievements.” 

Alongside being honoured at a celebration ceremony, winners will get the chance to share their stories in a specially commissioned film, which the charity hopes will inspire other young people to get involved with activities in their communities. 

Nominate your School Day Champion! 

As part of the Awards, we’re asking parents, carers, teachers and school staff to nominate a child or group of children who are making school a better place to learn, play and make friends as a School Day Champion. Find out how and apply now >

Pictured: Christine Curran, Sales Director for Countryside Partnerships North East take part in a Children North East session at our Cowgate Families and Parenting Center

Cookery and food education is undervalued by schools, and food technology lessons put additional financial pressure on low-income families, according to Ingredients for Success, a new report launched last week.

Produced by the Scottish Poverty and Inequality Unit at Glasgow Caledonian University, the research surveyed more than 1,000 teachers of food education to explore the barriers to practical food education faced by pupils in secondary schools across the four nations.

Figures show 78% of teachers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland believe that cost is a barrier to pupils accessing food education, and most teachers believe that families should not be asked to contribute to the cost of food education. Teachers also said they have been making changes to how they teach Food Technology in light of the cost of living crisis, adapting recipes to make them more affordable.

Our Poverty Proofing® Team has contributed its expertise to the steering group overseeing this research. On Friday afternoon, we joined colleagues from Glasgow Caledonian University, The Food Teachers’ Centre and Child Poverty Action Group at the official report launch with Sharon Hodgson, MP for Washington and Sunderland West, and chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on School Food. We met students at Churchill Community College in North Tyneside, who wowed the MP with their cooking skills, making apple crumble, chocolate brownie and vegetable pizza, and demonstrating the difference it makes when the ingredients pupils need are readily available for all students.

Sharon discussed with students the importance of learning to make healthy, affordable meals, and shared her commitment to the importance of ensuring Food Technology lessons are fully funded, so students from low-income families aren’t worrying about the cost of ingredients or getting in trouble at school if they don’t bring the right things in.

The findings of this research echo the wider evidence Children North East has gathered through our Poverty Proofing® work in schools. The pressure which food technology purchases put on families is a repeated theme when we speak to pupils and parents. Our consultations have highlighted that many pupils, in particular those from low-income backgrounds, feel uncomfortable repeatedly asking their family to provide ingredients. For example, one Year 10 pupil reported, “If I’d have known how much it costs to do food tech, it would have affected my decision… it makes me not want to do the subject”, whilst another shared, “We buy lots of food stuff. I don’t think it’s fair”. The opportunity for stigma in food technology is also high, with many reporting a “walk of shame” to collect packages provided for those accessing pupil premium, or not having the right equipment from home. As one Year 8 pupil highlighted, “If you don’t have a container, you throw it in the bin“.

“Enjoying school and being able to fully participate in education is an essential part of growing up happy and healthy. All children should have the opportunity to make the most of food technology lessons, and learn vital life skills to be able to cook and eat healthy meals, without the cost of ingredients being an issue. Ingredients for Success is an important and comprehensive report which lays bare the practical and financial barriers many pupils and, indeed, staff face, in learning about food and nutrition. Within it are also solutions and a call to action to remove inequalities and give all children equality of provision, no matter their background”

Leigh Elliott, Chief Executive at Children North East

Read the Summary Report

Read the Full Report

We are very pleased to announce that Robertson are returning for another year as the headline sponsor of our annual fundraising ball, which this year will be glamourously Winter Wonderland themed.

Robertson and its team have been ardent supporters of our work for over two decades, including over 18 years as sponsors of our flagship annual event.

They are the UK’s largest family-owned business offering construction and related services. Passionate about having a positive effect on communities, the firm has a strong history of delivering socially impactful projects across the North East, including the Spanish City regeneration, the NUCASTLE Community Hub for NUFC Foundation and Teesside Uni’s Net Zero Industry Innovation Centre.

Last year our Ball raised over £26,000, which is now benefitting babies, children, young people and their families across our home region. For perspective that is enough to fund 866 young people through counselling.

We’d like to take this moment to say a huge thank you to Robertson for being our continue champions and supporters of this exciting event.

To reserve your place or learn more about opportunities to get involved, get in touch with Joanne King, [email protected].