A gala dinner held in Newcastle Cathedral by high profile figures from the North East business, civic and faith communities raised over £30,000 for charity.
At the inaugural St Nicholas Gala Dinner, named after the Cathedral’s patron saint, 220 guests were entertained by live music from the Cathedral Choir and a performance by stilt performers and jugglers, Calvos, and a live auction. Food was provided by Boldon Farmhouse Pantry. Partner at commercial property firm Naylors Gavin Black and trustee at Newcastle Cathedral Trust, Chris Pearson, helped organise the event.
He said: “This magnificent Gala Dinner has raised much-needed funds to allow the Cathedral to work alongside those who are facing dark or difficult times, to have their voices heard and create a brighter future.”
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Guests at the dinner included the Dean of Newcastle, the Very Reverend Lee Batson, and the Bishop of Newcastle, the Right Reverend Dr Helen-Ann Hartley. Both have been installed within the past year, signalling an exciting new chapter for the Cathedral and Diocese.
Students at training provider TTE can get to grips with industry-standard equipment thanks to a donation from Mitsubishi Chemical 海角视频. The company has donated new instrumentation equipment to the training organisation, which is part of the Middlesbrough College Group, in the wake of the closure of its plant in Billingham. Not wanting to see the equipment go unused, Mitsubishi Chemical 海角视频 decided to donate it to training facilities and local colleges, including TTE.
Dave Plews, instrumentation and equipment manager at Mitsubishi Chemical 海角视频, said: “We wanted to use the equipment which we had in a positive way so we thought that donating it to education and training providers like TTE was the ideal way to do so. We hope that this equipment goes on to help develop the next generation of engineers and technicians to achieve their career aspirations.”
John Taylor, project manager for instrumentation and capital projects at TTE, said: “We’re very grateful to Dave and the team at Mitsubishi Chemical 海角视频 for this really generous gesture. Our aim is to ensure that the training and education we give to students is as close as possible to the real-life situations in which they will find themselves in the workplace and this equipment will definitely help to do that.”
Nexus employees have raised over £9,600 for Daft As A Brush Cancer Patient Care following a year of fundraising activities. The money was officially handed over at a cheque presentation at the Newcastle Central Station concourse in Newcastle.
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Nexus managing director, Cathy Massarella, was joined by David Wilson, development manager at Daft As A Brush, and colleagues from Nexus. Daft as a Brush, based in Newcastle, transports up to 100 cancer patients a day to and from the Freeman Hospital, free of charge, relying on charity fundraising to buy and run its 30 patient transport vehicles, as well as on volunteers to drive them.
Fundraisers by the firm included a sky dive by four employees which raised over £2,000, raffles, coffee mornings, bingo sessions and wellbeing walks plus sales of lost property, Metro merchandise and cakes. Daft As A Brush volunteers also collected over £300 at bucket collections at Monument Metro station.
Ms Massarella said: “I’m really proud of our teams who have spent the last year raising this fantastic sum of money for Daft As A Brush. Lots of employees got involved in all kinds of fundraising, including jumping out of aeroplanes, to help this really worthy local cause.”
The Bernicia Foundation has passed a milestone of £1m in grants to help communities and young people. The charitable arm of North East housing association Bernicia has recently gifted the region its one-millionth pound of support for projects, four years after it awarded its first grants.
Through its Inclusion and Inspiration Grants, the Foundation supports charities, third-sector organisations and individuals across the North East to help people live more fulfilling lives. Inclusion Grants of up to £10,000 have been awarded to 95 charities, charitable companies and constituted voluntary and community organisations, while Inspiration Grants of up to £1,000 have been awarded to 33 young people, as well as £200,000 in emergency Covid-19 support given to local authorities to deliver to community support charities.
Jenny Allinson, The Bernicia Foundation director, said: “To be able to invest a further £1m in the North East at a time of such economic challenge for many is a privilege for the Foundation trustees, and we’re thrilled to see the difference it makes to so many lives. We’re already looking ahead to the next funding round, which goes live in July, helping even more organisations and individuals at a time when they need support the most.”