Newcastle Building Society has pledged more than 拢1m to help Newcastle United鈥檚 community charity set up a sports hub in the shadow of St James鈥 Park.
The building society will become the Newcastle United Foundation鈥檚 regional community partner after donating 拢1.1m to support the development of the Murray House Recreation Centre in Arthur鈥檚 Hill into a hub for sports, education and wellbeing.
The partnership, which will support the operations of the centre over a six year period, forms part of the building society鈥檚 commitment to communities in the North East, North Yorkshire and Cumbria, and will see it take the naming rights to the new centre.
The society will also become a partner of the Foundation鈥檚 NU:Futures programme, an outreach programme targeting thousands of schoolchildren plus hundreds of young people not in education, employment and training across North of Tyne.
The support for the Foundation follows the building society鈥檚 backing of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, which has raised more than 拢3m through a dedicated ISA over the last eight years.
Newcastle Building Society chief executive Andrew Haigh said: 鈥淲e are delighted to have made this long-term commitment to Newcastle United Foundation at a time when it is so important to support our communities and invest in the future of young people in our region.
鈥淚t鈥檚 more important than ever that we work together to drive the region鈥檚 recovery and find ways to help those who need it most. Youth employability is key to this, so we鈥檙e excited to team up with the Foundation and support their valuable work for the next six years, and benefit thousands of people across the North East.
鈥淭he Foundation鈥檚 new centre to be built on the site of Murray House is an amazing, inspiring and innovative project that will deliver positive outcomes for young people for years to come and I couldn鈥檛 be more proud that Newcastle Building Society will be part of that future.鈥
The Newcastle United Foundation took ownership of Murray House, which was originally used to provide training opportunities for men and boys as shipbuilding declined in the 1930s, last year.
The project to set up a sports and community hub on the site has already won backing of 拢2.6m from the North of Tyne Combined Authority as well as 鈥渟ubstantial鈥 grants from the Sir James Knott Trust and Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust.
It is hoped the centre could open next year.
Sarah Medcalf, deputy head of the Newcastle United Foundation, said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled to have a major North East institution like Newcastle Building Society working with us at such an exciting and historic time for the Foundation.
鈥淐ovid-19 will have a lasting impact on all levels of society, but it鈥檚 important that organisations like the Foundation and its partners support our region鈥檚 most vulnerable young people and communities.
鈥淲e鈥檙e confident that the Murray House redevelopment will create a safe space to support young people and bring communities together, ensuring that disadvantaged and vulnerable young people remain connected, engaged and mobilised.鈥
