North East business life: community, award and charity events of the week

Ellingham Hall was crowned best events team at The Wedding Industry Awards at a ceremony in London this week.

The team beat wedding venues from across the ��Ƶ to be given the national title at the event on Wednesday night. It comes after the team took the honours at the North East and Yorkshire Regional Final for a third year running last November.

Bosses at Unveiled Venues, the company that owns the venue, said the award was well deserved.

Anthony Hunter, director of Unveiled Venues, said: “I’m incredibly proud of every member of our team at Ellingham Hall. They were given a highly commended award last year at the Nationals and to go back 12 months later and be named the ��Ƶs best Events Team is a fantastic achievement. Our team has been named the region’s best for three consecutive years and it’s a privilege to watch every member of our team pull together to give our couples the wedding they dream of.”

Group sales and marketing manager Lynn Sanderson said: “In the past year, we’ve had a variety of requests from our couples and the team goes the extra mile to help. As a result, the feedback our team receives from its couples is first class."

Ellingham Hall general manager, David Fordham-Scott, said: “I’m incredibly proud of not only the events team for achieving this accolade, but everyone who works at Ellingham Hall. They are a fantastic team and pull together to ensure our couples experience an unforgettable wedding, which is why they are being deservedly recognised.”

British Engines Group has worked with Newcastle's Royal Grammar School to sponsor a robotics teacher (Image: British Engines Group)

The British Engines Group has collaborated with Royal Grammar School in Newcastle to sponsor a robotics teacher to work with hundreds of students across schools in disadvantaged North East areas. Dr Steve Bunce, the robotics partnerships teacher, splits his time between teaching students at the grammar school and its partner state schools, in moves to inspire the next generation of engineering gamechangers.

The scheme allows the British Engines Group to support future engineering talent by developing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education for young people. As part of the initiative, Dr Bunce supports state school teachers by sharing STEM expertise and resources whilst teaching engineering, design and technology at Royal Grammar School.

The scheme sees activity days introduce students to the importance of STEM for sustainability, along with VEX Robotics and Lego competitions, to help them learn in a fun way. Dr Bunce said: “I believe it is part of our educational role to share the possibilities within STEM, including how integral it is to today’s way of working across many industries.”

Director of partnerships at the RGS, John Smith, said: “Thanks to the generous funding of British Engines, we recruited Dr Steve Bunce as our first ever Robotics Partnerships Teacher in 2022. Through this innovative role, Steve has reached around 1,500 students from 33 schools in his first year. He has been entrepreneurial and creative in shaping this new role with projects ranging from regular robotics sessions to one-off events engaging primary and secondary age children.”

Sponsorship from the Reece Foundation has also seen a mathematics partnerships teacher and physics partnerships teacher take part in the scheme since 2021, and it is hoped further sponsorship will allow two more STEM teachers to be recruited to expand the programme.

Groundwork NE & Cumbia received a cash boost of nearly £2,000 to use at Pegswood Park from shoppers at the local Co-op. (Image: Groundwork NE & Cumbia/Co-op)

A Northumberland park managed by community and environmental charity Groundwork NE & Cumbia has been given almost £2,000 following a collection led by the Co-op.

The donation means Groundwork can plant more trees and flower meadows to boost the biodiversity of Pegswood Park, which it manages in partnership with the park’s owners, the Banks Group. The money has been collected and donated by shoppers at the local branch of the Co-op, who picked it as their nominated charity through the Co-op’s Local Community Causes scheme.

The money has also helped Groundwork take the next step in its masterplan for the park, which includes increasing habitats, biodiversity and carbon capture, as well as improving and adding extra paths. Following the success of Pegswood Park and Co-op Local Community Causes, Groundwork is keen to extend this partnership to other Co-op stores across the region.

Kristine Boyd, member pioneer, Co-op said: “We are delighted to have made such an impact with our donation. Pegswood Park is exactly the type of local cause that the scheme was set up to help. We want to see Pegswood Park thrive and develop and we love that our contribution is helping. We hope to work with Groundwork in the future to support more of its projects across the region.”

Kevin Clarke, of Groundwork NE & Cumbria, said: “We are so thankful to shoppers at the local Pegswood branch of the Co-op, firstly for nominating the park and Groundwork as one of their Co-op Local Community Fund, and secondly for donating to the cause. The donation has boosted our efforts and improved this popular green space for all local residents. We would love to extend this community-based partnership to our other projects across the region, to improve public spaces for more people across the North East and Cumbria.”

Coaches at Northern Football Club with players from various age groups (Image: The Bigger Picture Agency Ltd - Angela Carrington)

Newcastle law firm Mincoffs Solicitors has teamed up with the city’s oldest rugby club to sign up as a sponsor for this season. The company has become Northern Football Club’s shirt sponsor for its mini and youth rugby teams. A total of 14 groups train with the club each week, ranging from under 6s to under 16s, including the club’s girls group, Northern Amazonians.

Paul Hughes, senior partner and head of corporate at Mincoffs Solicitors, said: “Sport is a fantastic outlet for young people and Northern Football Club is a great example of this, so it is our pleasure to sign on as shirt sponsor this season. A number of our staff have children who play for the youth teams, so it is an organisation we have close ties with and one we are proud to support.”

The rugby club, which was founded in 1875, operates at its home ground of McCracken Park, Gosforth, and has a number of players who have gone on to play at an international level, including Jonathan Webb, Brian Keen, David Rees and Colin White. It has strong links with Newcastle Falcons and, from u14s upwards, regularly has players go through the development player programme and academy.

Ben Hunter, chair of youth rugby at the club, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Mincoffs for their support of Northern this year. Community sport can have such a positive influence on individuals and communities and we believe rugby is particularly good at this. Having support from Mincoffs is invaluable to allow us to offer players and coaches personal development on and off the pitch.”

Winn Group won the claims partner of the year award at the Insurance Times Awards. From left to right: Kieran Embleton, Clint Milnes, Hugo Scott-Stuart and Mark Pallas. (Image: Simon Wright Photography Ltd)

Winn Group scooped the Claims Partner of the Year trophy at the Insurance Times Awards held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. The national awards brought together the best companies working in the insurance sector and Winn Group triumphed in the category that included well known names such as the AA and Zurich.

The judges said Winn were worthy winners for delivering a “mutually beneficial method of settling claims that ensures greater savings and benefits customers”. Alongside impressive financial growth, the judges also praised Winn’s impact in the wider community by ‘working with local educational institutions and demonstrating that the insurance sector is a great place for young talent to work”.

Winn Group CEO Chris Birkett said: “I’m immensely proud to be the winners of the Claims Partner of the Year category at the Insurance Times Awards. It’s an award that demonstrates our commitment to an important industry and our dedication to improving the claims process for customers who have been unfortunate enough to suffer an incident that led to an insurance claim. Without our dedicated and wonderful staff, this would never have been achieved and I would like to thank them all for their hard work throughout the year.”

Emma Dixon (left), customer adviser at Newcastle Building Society’s Carlisle branch with Lindsey Atkinson, community engagement producer at Tullie House Museum (Image: Newcastle Building Society)

A Carlisle museum and cultural hub has praised the impact of its popular community garden on a special volunteering project involving asylum seekers living in the city. Tullie created an accessible, courtyard-style community garden within its grounds in 2017 which is looked after by a small team of volunteers and enjoyed by thousands of people every year.

When two hotels opened in the city which housed asylum seekers, Tullie’s community team noted how many of the residents were keen to take part in projects using their horticultural skills. The museum used a £2,000 grant from the Newcastle Building Society Community Fund at the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland to bring in project leader and gardener Chuck Whitehead to set up and run a project which gave asylum seekers the chance to volunteer in the garden, and to pay for the equipment that was needed.

The project is now winding down, with a couple of wrap-up sessions set to take place in the coming weeks, ahead of a redevelopment programme. The venue is starting on the latest phase of its ongoing Project Tullie redevelopment scheme, and the main building is now closed until summer 2024 to allow building work to take place.

Lindsey Atkinson, community engagement producer at Tullie House Museum, said: “The community garden is always in demand, but with only a small team available to work on, we can’t always give it all the attention it deserves. Many of the asylum seekers living in our city had horticultural skills that they were keen to share, while the opportunity to get out into the open air and be part of a constructive community project in a safe environment was very much welcomed by everyone that took part.

“We have loved getting to know everyone and many members of the group are now our good friends. We simply couldn’t have made this project happen without Newcastle Building Society’s invaluable contribution and local people will be enjoying what it’s helped to deliver for a long time to come.”

Emma Dixon, customer service advisor at Newcastle Building Society’s Carlisle branch, said: “The Tullie team’s vision has made a much-loved community asset even more attractive and the fantastic work of its volunteer team throughout this year will deliver benefits for a long time to come.”