Two free weekly community get-togethers which aim to help tackle social isolation in a County Durham town are set to grow thanks to new funding from The Banks Group.
The Jubilee Fields Community Association in Shildon runs a Monday morning session at the community centre on Jubilee Road for local men, with a Monday afternoon group for local women following every week. The men’s group focuses on its members spending time together over tea, toast and the daily papers, while the ladies organise activities including crafting, knitting, baking, cooking, keep fit, and bingo.
A £5,000 grant from property and mining firm the Banks Group is now set to cover the cost of putting on the two events through the winter and well into next year, including room hire, refreshments and the cost of the different activities.
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Lesley Bowes, development coordinator at the Jubilee Fields Community Association, said: “We’re really grateful to Banks for stepping in to support our work and we’d love to see more local people coming along each week to see if they’d enjoy being part of our groups.”
Lucy Hinds, executive assistant at the Banks Group, added: “The Jubilee Fields Community Association offers a warm, welcoming environment that gives local people a great place to spend time each week in the company of friends old and new. The positive impact of its work is clear to see and we’re very pleased to be helping out as it seeks to extend its reach across the local community.”
International aerospace and defence company Lockheed Martin and global communications company Viasat organised a Space Camp event to give North East pupils the chance to explore careers in the space industry.
Around 60 young people from years six and 12 spent their half term at Northumbria University, discovering the very real opportunities available in the fast-growing sector. The students were able to hear from experts already working in the space industry, and take part in practical workshops and projects.
The event was hosted at Northumbria University which is already working closely with Lockheed Martin and the 海角视频 Space Agency on NESST – the North East Space Skills and Technology Centre, a £50m facility which will provide the skills to power the 海角视频’s space sector.
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Ben Shaw, head of operations and capture with Lockheed Martin, said: “Without the development of a talent pipeline we will not have the students taking STEM subjects at higher education. Space Camp is part of the narrative which encourages students to develop their science identify and their pathway to a STEM career; hopefully into the growing space sector.”
Prof John Woodward, pro-vice-chancellor (International) at Northumbria University, said: “Our ambition is to ignite aspiration, remove barriers for the communities that we serve and offer routes for young people from all backgrounds to access and succeed in higher education. Through the development of our North East Space Skills and Technology Centre we are working with local schools and industry partners to further our commitment to promoting STEM careers by delivering programmes such as Space Camp – opportunities that simply didn’t exist in the region when I was at school.”
A home-visiting optician's service gifted 35 pumpkins to a local cubs group after answering their plea on Facebook.
The Specsavers Home Visits business, which is based in Sunderland but covers the North East and Cumbria for home visit optical and audiology treatments, came to the rescue for 1st Wylam Cubs with pumpkins for its Halloween spooktacular. Staff loaded up their cars to the brim with the pumpkins before dropping them off in the Northumberland village of Wylam.
They said the cubs were over the moon with their delivery, which they used to carve their best scary faces, while also roasting the pumpkin seeds to make a snack.
Specsavers Newcastle Home Visits customer services director Kelly Rowe said: “When we saw the call from the cubs on Facebook, we were more than happy to help. Coming together as a community is what times like this are all about and we can see from the photos that the kids had a blast carving their pumpkins.”
The business leader who brought the former Smith’s Docks back to life on the River Tees a decade ago has been presented with a Member of the British Empire medal (MBE) in recognition of his service to the 海角视频’s marine industry.
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Harry Wilson, the founder and chairman of 海角视频 Docks, launched the company from a single slipway in South Shields in 1992 and went on to revive ship and boat repair yards on Tyneside, Teesside and on the south coast at Gosport in Portsmouth and Cremyll in Cornwall.
Mr Wilson’s work was recognised in the King’s first Birthday Honours List, and last week the 82-year-old and his family travelled to Windsor Castle for the presentation ceremony. Her Royal Highness, the Princess Anne, congratulated Mr Wilson on his achievements.
He said: “It was definitely one of the highlights of my life and I enjoyed the chance to have a talk to Princess Anne. Windsor Castle is a fabulous place and it was a fantastic day for all of us. Marine services make a huge and important contribution to our country and I think the way the world is going, that contribution is only going to increase in the years ahead.”