The decision by Newcastle Council to allocate £480K to boost youth services and activities across the city is to be welcomed. Following the launch of the Newcastle Youth Fund last year, Newcastle Council worked in partnership with the National Lottery Community Fund has to allocate cash to 25 voluntary bodies.Continue Reading
Illustration by Suzy Varty We reclaim this land, these seafronts, these fields whose owners have stolen them, hearts black as coal. We reclaim this England in the name of its children whose blood runs rich with the planet’s every pitch: from Africa’s sons, chained and enslaved, dragged to the North,Continue Reading
Over recent weeks I’ve tried to home in on the ongoing activities of the private care sector – and especially the most buccaneering elements there in the management of delivery of care for the vulnerable – from young children to the frail elderly or profoundly disabled. Time, I feel forContinue Reading
Pi Photo from deposit photos Today is Pi Day. This is a celebration that takes place all over the world to celebrate maths and that wonderful and special number that is pi. Pi, denoted by the symbol π, is a Greek letter that is used to represent the ratio ofContinue Reading
Escalator to Heaven Photo used with permission There are poets in front of you on the Poetry Escalator To Heaven. From dawn to dusk, non-rhyming, they climb aboard The Golden Stairway Of Acceptance. Their poems sing like hymns, like Arts Council bids you were too lazy to fill in. InContinue Reading
Ben Houchen, Tees Valley Mayor Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Tees Valley mayor, Ben Houchen, has plans to bring 20,000 jobs to Teesside through the Teesworks scheme, but it has recently come to his attention that the South Tees Development Corporation (Teesworks/STDC) has a £207 million funding black holeContinue Reading
Firefighters help at Polish Centre Firefighters from Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service answered an urgent call from the local community to help with relief efforts being channelled from Tyneside to war-torn areas of Ukraine. This week firefighters from Newcastle Central Community Fire Station were at Newcastle’s Polish CentreContinue Reading
Photo from iStock The World and people in the UK need to know about the horrendous suffering and war crimes being perpetrated in Ukraine. But it is not the only news which we need to be aware of. Rather than all the broadcasters and media outlets concentrating almost solely onContinue Reading
International Women’s Day Ellen is second from the right Big, fat, soft bodied nana, a sofa of flesh for grazed knee snuggles, a plump pillow for tiny heads who could never have guessed at what the word ‘struggles’ really means. Nor the roar of Dorniers calling down through clouds andContinue Reading
Chi Onwurah Photo from creative commons A government minister admitted that there is very little funding for Hadrian’s Wall in Newcastle, despite praising Chi Onwurah’s campaign for greater recognition of the Wall in Newcastle’s West End. In a letter to Chi, MP for Newcastle Central, the Minister highlighted over £18Continue Reading
