National Lottery cash boost for iconic Byker Community Centre

An iconic community centre, which sits in the heart of the historic Byker Wall in Newcastle, is celebrating after receiving a massive cash injection of nearly £220,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.

Byker Community Centre is a treasure trove of North East history and cultural heritage – home to girders salvaged from the Tyne Bridge, the sprung dancefloor from Newcastle’s legendary Mayfair nightclub, and a piano previously played by The Animals. The centre itself is Grade II* listed, dating back to 1925, and recognised by UNESCO as an ‘outstanding building of the 20^th century’.

The money – raised by players of the National Lottery – comes as a huge boost to the centre, which offers a range of valuable community services. Based in one Europe’s foremost examples of social housing - the Byker Wall development – the centre provides a ‘pay-as-you-feel’ supermarket and meals, financial and debt advice, and music sessions for adults with learning difficulties.

The £219,572 will enable the centre to establish ‘Costa Del Byker’, a volunteer-led café project, designed to provide low-cost, good-quality food to both local food outlets and visitors to Byker. Training and learning opportunities for people who want to develop their skills and improve their employment prospects will also be on offer.

The funding will also help to set up the centre’s ‘Story Hub’: a creative performance space, designed in consultation with local children and built in partnership with a nearby timber yard using recycled materials. Once completed, the space will be used for performing stories to children. These tales will also be translated into different languages and live-streamed into refugee camps in Greece and Turkey. The centre currently hosts a ‘Torn from Home’ exhibition, showcasing stories from local asylum seekers who have sought refuge in Newcastle.

The grant will also be used to develop the ‘This Is Byker’ campaign – celebrating the community’s proud cultural identity and teaching local children and tourists the importance of the estate and the surrounding area in the country’s history. Centre volunteers hope to set up ‘Byker Tours’ – working with schools, visitors, and partner organisations – to raise awareness of Byker’s proud and vibrant heritage.

Roweena Russell, Byker Community Centre Manager, said: “Our team are humbled by this support from the National Lottery. This award gives us time and space to develop the great ideas we’re developing with the community in Byker. This Estate has a rich heritage and story; we are based in the centre of a special community. We are benefiting from our Partnership with The Byker Trust and the youth partnerships. Our work will turn this grant into projects that will support Byker and the North East. We believe that, when everybody benefits, then, everybody benefits.”

In addition to those workshops and classes run by the Byker Community Association, the centre also serves as a base for other local groups and organisations, providing mindfulness, dance, sports, and ‘knit and natter’ sessions, as well as a practice space for a marching band. Nick Brown, MP for Newcastle East, hosts his weekly constituency surgery there, as do local councillors.

Duncan Nicholson, Head of Regional Funding at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “We know that when people are in the lead, their communities thrive, just like here in Newcastle’s East End. We’re delighted to be able to award money, raised by National Lottery players, to projects that matter to people - projects like the Byker Community Centre, which brings together a community to celebrate its identity and make it stronger and better-connected.”

The National Lottery Community Fund distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes. Over the last three months, it awarded £2.2M of National Lottery funding to projects in Tyne & Wear.

End with: To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk