National Grid awards £20,000 to local charities in South Shields
South Shields Football Club Foundation and Bright Futures North East have each received £10,000 from National Grid's Community Grant Programme to support new projects benefiting local people, including a community café and alternative education programme for girls.
Two community organisations in South Shields have each received £10,000 from National Grid's Community Grant Programme (CGP) to support new projects benefiting local people.
South Shields Football Club Foundation, the charitable arm of South Shields Football Club, works with people of all ages to improve health, well-being, and opportunity across South Tyneside. The charity has used the grant to create a new community café.
Based at the Harton and Westoe Miners Welfare, the Coal Face Café will serve the local community, with students from Epinay College learning key skills whilst running the café.
Bright Futures North East educates and empowers young women and girls to raise aspirations and develop life skills. It has used the grant to establish an alternative education programme for girls aged 11 to 16 who find it hard or are unable to attend mainstream education.
Steve Camm, Foundation Manager at South Shields Football Club, said: “We’ve been trying to open a community cafe for years and this grant from National Grid has helped us to create an amazing space within the Harton and Westoe Miners Welfare, which will benefit all the existing users of the Foundation as well as the wider community, including the former miners who use the facilities.”
Dominque Hendry, Project Manager at Bright Futures North East, said: “The funding of programmes which are so integral to our support for the local community is vital, and through the National Grid grant we’ve been able to create a new alternative education programme for girls who find it hard to or who are unable to attend mainstream education. This funding will help us to provide meaningful experiences for those girls, which are enriching and help them to feel part of something.”
The CGP supports community organisations in areas impacted by National Grid’s operations and construction activities, with communities in the South Shields area able to apply for grants of up to £10,000.
A new technology called Power Flow Control (PFC) is currently being installed at South Shields substation in Simonside to boost the volume of clean energy that National Grid’s circuits can carry.
As part of this project, National Grid is supporting a range of organisations across South Shields via grants, volunteering and educational programmes.
Steve Reynolds, Project Manager at National Grid, said: “Ensuring wider benefits are delivered for the communities close to our sites is a key part of every National Grid project. Through our Community Grant Programme, we’ve been pleased to see up close the incredible work both organisations do within the South Shields community.
“We’re delighted to be able to support these projects which provide spaces to bring the community together in a productive and purposeful way. We are actively looking to support more organisations in the area through potential grants, educational programmes or volunteering opportunities.”
Information about the National Grid Community Grant Programme is available at https://www.nationalgrid.com/responsibility/community/community-grant-programme.