Annual Report

2018-19

The work of St. Paul’s Community Partnership is led by a Management

Committee, supported by a team of volunteers, who all give their time

freely to provide groups, activities and services at St. Paul’s Centre.

Management Team 2018-19:

Chair of Trustees: Sue McCormack Treasurer: Julie Robertson Trustees: Ann Nuttall

Corrie Rowe Joss Hunter Karen Spark Kirsty McGowan Peter Spark Sheila Davidson Vicky Cowley

In 2018-19 our work was supported by the following funders:

- Ballinger Charitable Trust

- Barbour Foundation

- Bequest in memory of Liz Hunter

- Big Lottery

- Community Foundation

- Fareshare – Tesco

- Karbon Homes

- LGA Foundation

- North Tyneside Councillors

- Northumbria Police Commissioner’s Fund

- Partners in Community Action

- R.W. Mann Trust

- TT2

- Victor Mann Trust

- Willington Quay Boating Federation

Thank you everyone for supporting our aim to

‘Make Willington Quay a better place to live and work’

From our Chair of Trustees…

‘From the cradle to the grave - making a difference in Willington Quay’- making Willington Quay a better place to live and work is a bit of a strap line of ours. Even if it’s just a small change for the better in outcomes for various groups or individuals in our community, we like to see that happen – and we’re open to new ideas.

St Paul’s Centre thrives due to a lot of hard work from volunteers for which we are very grateful. We also get grants to pay for expertise where we need it and value the skills this has brought in to our Youth work, Children’s work, Digi drop-in and Administration.

We are thrilled that others seem to ‘get’ our vision and have supported us with funding to sustain and grow the work of the Centre and we thank them for partnering with us in this way.

This year there has been something for everyone! We hosted a number of events for the community including: the Great Willington Quay Exhibition, Community Fundraisers and celebrations, visits from schools, etc. We provided “things to do and places to go” for families during school holidays which has included a mix of activities at the Centre, and trips to York, Kirkley Hall, Scarborough and a Christmas Pantomime. These are great experiences for families and our community to enjoy time together.

We responded to requests from the community and started some new groups: Happy Chappies, Samba Drumming, Friendship Group and Gospel Choir, all of which quickly became regular features of the St. Paul’s Centre weekly activities. We’ve worked together, we’ve celebrated together, we’ve laughed together (lots) and, when we lost our dear friend, Liz Hunter, we cried together too. Liz was committed to the work of the Centre and supported a number of groups as well as being on our team of First Aiders. We were saddened too by the death of Gillian Ford of the Salvation Army who ran the Home League here for many years.

Play in Newcastle took over leading the Kids Club programme on Thursdays which has gone really well and they now deliver the last part of the afternoon Triple Tuesday programme too. Their approach to working with youngsters and parents is really appreciated.

We’ve also become part of a National piece of work that’s being done through Manchester and Newcastle Universities around Brexit and different communities. As part of this we’ve had several interesting week long visits from John from Manchester University; and also folk from Newcastle University visited the Youth group.

Our Digi drop in continues to help with all things digital in the centre on Wednesdays – and some folk have gained employment through this. We also help now with EU citizens applications at the centre.

Through the Happy Chappies programme our centre has seen some home improvements this year; with cladding in the entrance and under the kitchen hatch and painting too – it looks great. Thank you Happy Chappies.

And we were very proud of Joss Hunter who is our volunteer cook for the Wednesday Lunch club who received an ‘Age Takes Centre Stage Volunteering Award’ and received it at a reception on the DFDS ferry while it was moored in North Shields.

And we mustn’t forget that this is a building in which prayer is valued – a small group of us meet each Tuesday weekly for Communion and pray for the needs of this community and its people. We believe that God wants all humans to flourish.

Therefore, it is so good to see individuals, groups and the centre flourishing for another year. THANK YOU. Sue McCormack Chair of Trustees

Read on to find out more about what’s been going on at St. Paul’s Centre this past year:

Drop-In

The Digi Drop-In continues to be very popular, offering IT support to the local community. This year we have expanded our online training subjects to include: Food, Nutrition & Healthy Eating in Education, Managing & Reducing Stress, Customer Care, and an

Introduction to Leadership, along with the ever popular Level 2 Food Hygiene and Level 2 Health and Safety in the Workplace. All these subject are available online and the level of IT ability is not important as our 1 to 1 support can overcome any fears of using a computer. Over the year we have seen a slight increase in residents needing benefit

support, particularly Universal Credit, and other online form- filling, also support to e.g. change energy and insurance suppliers. During this year we have supported 4 people into full-time work and 6 into part-time work. Well done to all our clients! We will once again be looking for funding for the Digi Drop-In and we are confident it will continue for a further 12 months. Dot Owston

Triple Tuesdays Everyone loves Peter & Karen’s cooking! 2018-19 has been another successful year for this popular group. Toddlers meet from 2.00pm, families gather for Healthy Eating Club from 4.00pm followed by an hour of Family Fun.

Thanks to some funding from Northumbria Police Commissioner’s Fund we were able to engage the services of Specialist Play Workers from Play-in-Newcastle who came and ran 10 of our Family Fun sessions. They encouraged children and parents/ carers to interact through play. They had some great ideas for low-cost activities which families can replicate at home. We had a great time! So much so that we asked them to come back and run some more sessions!

We’ve also started fundraising because we’d like to go on holiday as a group. To find out more about our group there are lots of pictures on St. Paul’s Facebook page!

Youth Work Sessions Report The aim of our youth work sessions is to engage local young people in positive activities and offer them as many opportunities as possible, to try new things, learn new skills, gain new experiences and have a safe and secure place to visit.

We hope that young people will make new friends and feel more confident. Through conversations and activities Youth Workers try to explore what individual young people want to do in their lives, we then work around this to offer as many varied opportunities as possible.

During the year our young people have been involved in a vast number of activities and programmes. The ever-present activity in our sessions is cooking. It’s a great activity that all our young people enjoy and they are at the heart of it, involved in planning, shopping, cooking, eating (not to mention the washing up!). As well as cooking each week, Youth Workers use activities such as such badminton, pool, table tennis and arts as engagement tools. All our activities foster opportunities for conversation, which is at the core of our youth work plan. On top of these regular activities ork programme is enriched by e.g. trips, visitors from other organisations, focussed work on issues such as mental health and relationships. Young people are always at the heart of our session planning.

One of the highlights of the year was winning a Project with Pride Award. Our Leaders for Life Programme gained recognition and our young people went to the NE Youth Awards Ceremony in Newcastle to collect the award. One of our young people, Sharna Lawlor, was also successful in being offered the post of YMCA North Tyneside Youth and Play Apprentice. She is currently on placement with

YMCA alongside studying for a Children & Young People’s Workforce qualification at college. Sharna is doing a great job and gaining lots of valuable experience, working in a range of settings and organisations. She has appeared on Local Radio and actively promotes our work.

We really enjoyed visiting the theatre. The young people were initially a little apprehensive about the idea of going a theatre, saying that it was “not for them”. However, offering new opportunities and experiences is at the core of our work, and gaining cultural experiences and knowledge is a valuable asset for young people. Over the year we have visited the Live Theatre several times and recently went to Sunderland Empire and visiting the theatre has since become a favourite activity!

In May, we took part in the Hadrian’s Wall Walk Challenge, walking an 11-mile section of the wall with young people from YMCA’s Jarrow Group. It was a great opportunity for young people to get out into the countryside, as well as learning some history of the wall from the guides we had on the day. Throughout the year we have undertaken periodic outreach sessions in which we try to promote the group to a wider audience. It also gives us opportunities to speak to young people who prefer not to come into building-based sessions. Many young people prefer to meet their friends in parks, etc., so outreach has enabled us to build positive and meaningful links with them. We also ran summer park sessions, once again working alongside Young in Wallsend groups and partners to offer fun activities for young people. Two of our young people, Michelle and Sharna, undertook the nationally recognised YMCA George Williams College Level 1 Youth Work course which ran at YMCA’s Teasdale office in October. They studied hard, alongside other young leaders, volunteers and part-time workers, over a very busy and long weekend. The course offers a basic introduction into the principles and core elements of youth work for those interested in a career in youth work. It was a fantastic opportunity for the girls to gain a valuable qualification and gave them an insight into the work of youth and community work – well done Michelle and Sharna! After the summer our weekly sessions at St. Paul’s focused on targeted work with young people. We have had guests from YMCA England visit to discuss the national ‘Be Real’ campaign around mental health awareness for young people. Other sessions focused on relevant issues for young people such as: suicide awareness, International Women’s Day, relationships, etc. and, at the end of March we had guests call in from Newcastle University’s Research Department to speak to the young people about what they feel the impact of Brexit will be on them, and on the community in which they live.

By offering as many varied activities as possible, and involving as many outside agencies as possible in our sessions, we believe our young people gain a greater understanding of what is going on and how they can get involved. Through participation and discovery, we hope they feel motivated and inspired.

Warren Crake Senior Youth Worker YMCA

Youth Club meets at St. Paul’s Centre every Thursday from 6pm to 8pm

All young people aged over 12 to 21 are welcome

and… it’s free!

Monday Craft Club, otherwise known as ‘Knit, Natter, Stitch and Sew’!

We are a group of ladies who gather on a Monday at 12.30pm to do our chosen crafts. The ladies are: Ann, Linda S, Linda M, Marion, June, Fran and Joss. Ann does crochet and makes items to sell for the Centre, this includes cards and toys. Linda S, Linda M and Fran do knitting. Marion crochets items for a donation to the Centre. June does sewing and Joss does cross stitch and knitting. We are a small group but anybody, male or female, will be very welcome to join us. We can supply craft items if you are a beginner or, if you’re advanced, feel free to bring along your own project to work on. If you would be interested in joining us - just come along!

Joss Hunter

A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF ST PAULS HAPPY CHAPPIES We are a collection of men who get together once a week. It started out as a place to have a cuppa and a bit of a chat but, during the chats, we found that we had a lot in common even though our ages varied so much. This lead us to think we could use our collective skills to help others and teach ourselves new skills that could be transferred to possible employment or just to take home and use. So far we have honed our decorating, woodwork and cookery skills. We have

painted 90% of the Centre to door height and have wood-panelled a couple of walls which were constantly getting damaged. Looking ahead, grass-cutting season is upon us so most of our activities will be outside gardening. We will also be working with our friends from BAM Nuttall re-pointing the boundary wall. We are yet to go out into the wider community but this is one of our goals.

Our cookery project was particularly valuable for all of the guys. We started with the basics and then got adventurous but we could only cook at the Centre because it became obvious that most of us did not have the tools or ingredients we needed to cook at home. We approached a funder who provided us with a

grant to run the sessions, provide equipment and ingredients – everything the guys needed. Plus, for staying the course, each received a slow cooker to show off their new skills with their families at home! Two of the guys took up the offer of doing a L2 Food Handling qualification through St. Paul’s Digi Drop-in. We have continued to cook and now make

puddings for the children’s triple Tuesday session from time to time. In addition to learning new skills we’ve also had sessions around men’s health, which were supported by Michael from North Tyneside Public Health. To see more about what we’ve been doing visit St. Paul’s Facebook page. From the original group of 6 there's only 3 of us left (2 of our members secured employment) but we have been fortunate to swell our numbers to just under 10, and new members are always welcome.

Happy Chappies meet on Monday afternoons, 3.00-4.30pm New members always welcome!

Line Dancing We are a small friendly group who meet in the Main Hall at St. Paul’s Centre every Friday, 1.30pm-3.00pm, to Line Dance and “Chat”! Line dancing is good exercise and you don’t need a partner! You’re welcome to come along and join us. It’s £2 a session which includes refreshments. Jean Ginks

Tai Chi It has been another successful year for the St Paul’s Tai Chi group that meets on Wednesday mornings. Numbers remained stable this year and we attracted some newcomers who have continued to attend regularly. We have been practising our ‘Phoenix in Graceful Clouds of Blessing’ Form and we were able to demonstrate our progress to Master Joe Lok when he travelled to Newcastle from Hong Kong in June, which was an honour for us all. The Tai Chi group meets socially for special occasions and is welcoming and supportive to anyone who would like to give Tai Chi a try, no matter what level of health or experience. I am happy for students to do the exercises in a seated position if they feel unable to stand for an hour. We look forward to another enjoyable year and thank Angela in the St. Paul’s office for her excellent administrative support. Ilona Tate

Booking essential Ring 0191 280 2594

Friendship and Food every Wednesday

12.00 noon – 1.00 pm

All welcome! 2-course lunch £3.00

Meal to take home £2.00

St. Paul’s Friendship Group

Our Friendship Group is going strong and has welcomed another increase in numbers since last year. We aim to provide something for everyone and, to that end, have had a wide and varied programme of events over the past year. Good-calibre tutors have taught us how to make professional flower arrangements, hessian flowers, collages, and our own personal mix of aromatherapy oils. Other guests have included faith magician, Reg Heasley, George Laws of Wallsend Local History Society, and Newcastle author and playwright, Roger Harvey. We were especially pleased to welcome Lexie Watson, aged 96, the former Sunday School teacher of some of us at St. Paul’s, who gave a fascinating talk about the vibrant social life at St. Paul’s decades ago. Several members knitted poppies, some of which were presented to Liz Liddle of

the World War One Project, and some of which adorned the church and the memorial. Sean showed us how to make hanging baskets and Joss taught us cross-stitch. Ingela Vestin-Kearney impressed on us the importance of good-quality nutrition in maintaining a healthy body, while North Tyneside Council’s Health & Wellbeing representative attended our MacMillan fundraiser. We had a good workout when we tried Persian dancing with Ozzie! Our competitive instincts came to the fore in beetle drives, bingo, and carpet and table bowls. Sue spoke to us about “A day in the life of a Vicar” and we had the chance to dress up in our Abba sing-a-long. We enjoyed a trip to Alnwick Gardens on a perfect day in September and hope for the same when we go to Beamish Museum at the end of April. In the coming months we will be trying seated Tai Chi, enjoying music with an accordionist and a ukulele band, and doing more crafts and table top gardening.

Our aim is always to provide friendly and welcoming company for each other and anyone else who chooses to visit and participate in our group.

The Friendship Group meets at St. Paul’s Centre On Wednesday afternoons, 1.30-2.30pm

Subs are £1.00 which includes refreshments. Pop in for a visit – all are welcome!

Samba Drumming and Choir

5:19 Samba Drumming, also known as Rhythm Culture, is a community project aimed at families. Our aim is to provide an experience that children and parents can partake of together. Those who attend develop musical accuracy, fluency, expression, personality and confidence. This style of world music builds a greater awareness of the music of other cultures whilst providing an intuitive way to learn detailed rhythms and build aural memory.

The drummers have developed a stronger sense of rhythm and time through the use of practise pads. They started with a range of simple rhythms and drum rudiments then progressed to more complex traditional Brazilian rhythms on the Samba set. They learnt Samba Batucada which is a traditional Brazilian carnival piece. A video of the performance is available on St. Paul’s Facebook page. 5:!9 Gospel Choir is also a community project. It seeks to build bridges between generations with a strong focus on vocal development, music literacy, ensemble singing, harmony and improvisation. Performance plays an important role. The choir covers a wide range of musical styles from Gospel to Contemporary. Participants learn how to read music, sing with proper technique, and gain confidence in their singing skills. The Choir have developed the important skill of vocal warm up as well as establishing a stronger sense of time and pulse. A basic understanding of musical vocabulary has enabled participants to explore vocal harmony. Some of the songs covered have been arranged in 3-part harmony. Both Gospel and contemporary songs are represented in the choir’s musical repertoire including songs such as: ‘Blinded By Your Grace’, ‘Ain’t Gonna Let No-Body’ and ‘Go down Moses’. A performance video is available on St. Paul’s Facebook page. Both Drumming and Choir sessions have been running on Monday evenings at St. Paul’s since January and are proving to be a popular addition to our weekly activities programme! David & April Olatung

New members are always welcome! Monday evenings…

Drumming: 6.00-7.15pm / Choir: 7.30-8.30pm … or come along and try both!

Did you know that St. Paul’s Centre is available for private hire?

Ideal for groups, activities, parties, meetings, training, corporate events, We can offer one-off and regular bookings (subject to availability) including:

Large hall

Meeting rooms

Well-equipped kitchen

Free Wi-Fi

Bouncy castle

Level access

Accessible facilities

IT suite

Free parking

Garden area

Close to major road and rail links Nearest Metro station is Howdon

Nearest Mainline station is Newcastle

For current availability and charges please contact the Centre office: Tel: 0191 280 2594 Email: stpaulscentre@hotmail.co.uk

St. Paul’s is also available for weddings, baptisms and funerals

Contact Rev’d Sue McCormack who will be happy to help you.

Tel: 0191 2099995

Email: revsue14mack@gmail.com