Newcastle Partnership

The Vision

Our Diocesan Visit to Newcastle July 2011

Apart from being at the opposite end of the country, Newcastle and Northumberland have many other contrasts to Winchester and Hampshire – not least the fact that 90% of the population live in the small south-east part of the diocese surrounding the City of Newcastle. This means that the vast majority of the Newcastle Diocese is very sparsely populated and there is a great difference between rural and urban.

Historically the urban areas have been devoted to heavy industry and coal mining, whilst the rural parts have been almost completely owned and run by large private estates, farming arable crops and enormous numbers of sheep. Although there is just as much farming, it employs far fewer people than in years gone by, and almost all the industry and mining has ceased in the urban parts. These trends have presented very many particular challenges which the Church has been working hard to help local people through.

Over our four-day visit from 19^th to 22^nd July, the eight of us from Winchester Diocese saw many inspiring regeneration projects in towns and countryside.   ( Duncan Jennings)

Of all the places and projects in Northumberland visited by the Winchester Link team, probably the Amble Youth Centre raised more unanswered questions than any other, and left us feeling frustrated.  Amble is a town, civil parish and seaport at the mouth of the River Coquet on the North Sea coast, some 30 miles north of Newcastle, with a population of around 6,000.  The town grew in the 19^th century as an ideal centre for the transport of coal by rail and its export by sea.  There were also shipbuilding and sea fishing.  Now, the collieries have all closed and fishing operations have contracted, mainly due to the reductions in quota but also because of the partial collapse of the harbour wall a few years ago.

The area has been in decline because of a lack of local industry and commerce.  There is no longer a rail link and major arterial roads by-pass the area.  It has also been claimed that the unitary authority has focussed more attention and money on the nearby town and tourist centre of Alnwick.  A market town of similar size to Amble, Alnwick has, however, a lot more to offer the local and tourist alike – a castle, museums and the world-famous Barter Books, all of which encourage people to stay.

A number of years back, a youth drop-in centre was formed at Amble with a management committee of local people, church leaders and representatives of the local authority.  When this first started it was well funded and supported by the management committee, but as with many such projects, the level of backing has not kept pace with current demands.

The centre is limited by the space available on site.  There is no games hall or outdoor ball court.  The largest space has restricted headroom, so cannot even be used for large-scale projection.  Snooker, pool and table tennis tables take up large areas for use by a limited number of people.  Smaller spaces are available for internet, craftwork or hair/beauty sessions, but not at the same time. 

There is a nearby sports centre, but the cost of hiring a court or pitch means that the facility cannot be utilised as frequently as the leaders would like, and if it is used, a greater number of staff are needed to supervise both venues.

What was obvious to us as visitors was that the leaders were having to operate on a “hand to mouth” basis, with insufficient funding to

(a) extend and update the facilities provided and

(b) plan any programme of events and activities. 

Members of the visiting group were left feeling very concerned for the leaders who were clearly frustrated in their efforts to provide for the youth of the town.  Young people seeking further education or skills and trade training will probably have to travel to Newcastle, but the difficulties and cost of transport even over this comparatively short distance make the journey impractical, and there is little in Amble for them to return to.  (Peter Woodall)

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