Our Work
Archived News
Thank You
Everyone at the Alan Shearer Activity Centre would like to say a great big ‘thank you’ to everyone who collected Wish 10 tokens from the Evening Chronicle recently.
The tokens raised £443.38 for our new music room, which we hope to have up and running from April.
Thank you!
Christmas comes early to the Activity Centre
Christmas came early for disabled children from Hadrian School in Newcastle and Greenfields School in Hebburn. They came to a Christmas party at the Centre and met two surprise guests.
Not only did Santa Claus make a special appearance, to hand out selection boxes to the children, but the Centre’s own name-sake, football legend Alan Shearer, also turned up to give Santa a helping hand.
The children’s faces lit up as they were taken to one of the sensory rooms, which had been decked out as Santa’s grotto, and came face to face with Father Christmas himself. Another surprise was in store when local hero, Alan, turned up to help give out the Christmas goodies.
Alan said, “It’s always great to be here, I really do love coming to the Centre. It has such a warm feeling to it and it’s been lovely to see the smiles on the children’s faces today as they got their gifts from Santa. This really is a very special place.”
Jackie Wood, Higher Level Teaching Assistant at Greenfields School told us:
“It’s been a fantastic experience for the children. They have all thoroughly enjoyed being here today and also meeting Alan Shearer. The Centre is a valuable place for children to come and provides excellent respite care.”
Coralie Forbes, Teacher at Hadrian School commented:
“I really would like to thank the team at the Alan Shearer Centre for inviting us here today.
The children have had a lovely time, the facilities here are excellent and it has benefitted them all being here. Alan Shearer was lovely with the children and spent time with each and every one of them.”
Rob certainly knows how to throw a party
Elly and James Chapple were so delighted with their daughter Ella’s birthday party at the Alan Shearer Activity Centre last year that they came back to celebrate her 4th birthday this year.
Special praise from the family goes to the Centre’s Deputy Manager, Rob Molineux who really pulled out all the stops to make the celebration a perfect day for Ella and her family and friends.
“Rob was unbelievably helpful from start to finish,” said Elly. “Not only did he ensure that the party ran smoothly – with a fabulous presentation of our photos of Ella over the years – and was absolutely fantastic with all our guests, he also managed to look after us, cook the children’s food and look after all the adults present too. We had the most memorable day and the party was again a huge success. We will be returning again next year and hopefully in-between, too.”
Chief Executive with St Cuthberts Care, Austin Donohoe said, “Rob’s values mirror those of our entire charity and we are proud he is part of our team.”
You can download information about our birthday parties and a price list for parties and all the Centre's activities.
Up tempo start for music room plans
We’ve got exciting plans to provide a music room at the Alan Shearer Activity Centre and fundraising is already off to a good start thanks to Intersport, Alan Shearer himself and everyone who is busy collecting tokens as part of the Evening Chronicle Wish 10 campaign.
We are extremely grateful for the recent donation of £960 by Intersport which was raised when they held a raffle at one of their recent social evenings. Alan Shearer was guest speaker at the event and this generous contribution has been made in honour of Alan’s continuing support of our fundraising efforts.
The addition of a music room to the Alan Shearer Activity Centre will be such a bonus for the children and adults attending the centre. The natural therapy provided by listening to or taking part in musical activities is something which benefits everyone, but particularly those with sensory impairments.
Watch this space for more updates on our music room plans and news of how we are getting on with our fund raising efforts.
If you’d like to make a donation to help support this or any of our many other projects you can find out how on our Support Us page.
Thanks for your support
Many thanks to all the fundraisers who help us maintain and develop the services we offer our members. Special thanks this month to -
Marine Park First School in Whitley Bay, where children from a single class raised a marvellous £408 by organising a movie day with an entrance fee for a film and popcorn.
Thanks also to air conditioning company AAF International in Cramlington, Northumberland for their donation of £327.
If you would like to support the work of the Centre in some way, not necessarily by fundraising, you can find a number of suggestions on our Support Us page.
Well done to Year 9 pupils at St Benet Biscop High School in Bedlington, Northumberland, who made St Cuthberts Care their charity of choice for fundraising this year. Their efforts were given a huge boost when 12 year old Jake Dobson offered to do a 63 mile sponsored cycle ride - the Cyclone Challenge.
Jake told a local newspaper, "It will be the most I've ever cycled in one day - I've only ever cycled 58 miles"!
Jake is actually a pupil at St Thomas More High School in North Tyneside, but offered to raise the money for St Benet Biscop because his mother, Joanna, is a biology teacher at the school. Just to add to the pressure on him, he was told on the day of the event that his sponsorship money would be increased if he completed the challenge in under six hours.
His final time was five hours and one minute, bringing in a magnificent £650 - including £100 raised by his grandfather Ernie from friends and neighbours.
Joanna presented the cheque to Rob Molineux, the Deputy Manager of Alan Shearer Activity Centre, which will benefit from Jake's hard work.
Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell rolled up her sleeves and helped out in Brownes Cafe on her recent visit to the Alan Shearer Centre. Catherine, an employment solicitor, was taking part in National Volunteers Week.
She was given a brief tour by Manager, Amanda Head and St Cuthberts Care's Deputy Chief Executive, Moira Ashman, who explained something of the Centre's history and what it offers disabled people in the area.
As an MP, Catherine is well aware of the increasing importance of maintaining facilities such as the Alan Shearer Centre in a time of financial stringency and cut-backs and is keen to lend her support to our work.
We are always delighted to hear that our guests have enjoyed their visit to the Centre, so we were very pleased when someone drew our attention to the Useful Vision website.
Useful Vision is a North East charity based in Prudhoe, Northumberland, which delivers a range of support services, organised events and educational activities to help blind and visually impaired children get the most out of life.
The charity hired the whole Centre on 22 May for a Family Day, giving 15 families exclusive use of all the facilities, with an arts and crafts session for the children and a buffet lunch for everyone in Browne’s Café. The warm, dry weather meant that the garden and grounds could be enjoyed too.
We look forward to welcoming them back for their next Family Day on 28 November.
If you would like more information about Useful Vision you can visit their website at; www.usefulvision.org.uk.
Our Live & Learn courses offer a variety of practical and fun activities for adults with physical and learning disabilities. Just as importantly though, they include regular interactive discussions aimed at raising awareness of how to cope with real life situations.
Recently we had a visit from "Firewoman Sam" of Northumbria Fire Service who discussed fire safety with members. She gave advice on how to spot potential hazards, prevent fires occurring and what to do if they were unlucky enough to face one.
The Fire Service has a 'Ban The Pan' campaign aimed at discouraging people from using chip pans - a major cause of fires in the home. Fortunately, all of our members said they didn't use a chip pan, preferring the safer option of oven chips - or getting them from their local chip shop.
Before she left, Sam (yes, it is her real name), gave everyone the opportunity to see how difficult it is to get in and out of the firefighting uniform.
June 2010
A hardy team from the Department for Work and Pensions again raised funds for the Alan Shearer Centre with a sponsored mountain climb in June.
Last year they climbed Scafell Pike in the Lake District. This year the challenge is rather more difficult - the highest mountain in Britain: Ben Nevis. With a summit 4,409 feet above sea level, Ben Nevis has some degree of snow cover almost all year round and fog and poor weather conditions can be expected even in June
when the climb took place.
One of the organisers, Sharon Melsome, said, “This is a huge challenge for people with a very mixed level of fitness.”
The team followed the tourist route part of the way, branching off to follow Carn Mor Dearg Arete across the summit, then rejoined the tourist route for their descent.
April 2010
Members of Newcastle's North East Rhinos Motorcycle Club took to the roads on a special mission this Easter. They were helping pupils of Walbottle Campus distribute almost 400 Easter eggs they had bought for disabled and sick children in the area.
The fundraising effort was organised by one of the pupils, 16 year old Vanessa Middlemiss, whose father Jonathan is a member of the Rhinos.
This year was the club's tenth Easter egg run and Jonathan told the Evening Chronicle, "I know it means a lot to the youngsters and it has just spiralled each year."
The Alan Shearer Centre was one of the many places to benefit and Centre regular John Robson was on hand to pass on our thanks to the pupils for their generosity.
Live and Learn facilities extended
April 2010
Anyone joining our Live & Learn courses can now enjoy their activities in our newly extended facilities. Part of the former Auton Children's Home which adjoins the Centre has been modernised and re-equipped to hold a variety of sessions.
The Live & Learn programme for adults with physical or learning disabilities is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays and includes arts and crafts, basic computer skills, cookery and gardening. The new extension now provides a dedicated space for the courses and even includes its own fully equipped kitchen.
For more information, visit the Live & Learn page or download a leaflet.
February 2010
The Centre's first Valentine's Party was a big hit, with a large crowd of our regulars turning up bringing friends and family for a night of music and dancing.
Members of our Live and Learn group had prepared for the party by making sugar hearts and decorating lanterns to hang in the reception area. There was Disco for those who wanted to strut their stuff, while others just chose to sit it out or enjoy the buffet in Browne's Cafe.
February 2010
Many thanks to members of the North East branch of the Quilters Guild of the British Isles who have donated some of their handiwork to the Centre.
The colourful patterned quilts known as Linus Quilts are specially made to comfort children who are sick or in need of a hug and to give them the reassurance that comes with snuggling up in a blanket.
Project Linus originated in America in 1995 as a result of a quilter's desire to help children in need and came to the UK in 2000. Since then, over 96,000 quilts have been delivered to children's homes and hospitals, neo-natal units, special care units and various children's charities. The brightly coloured quilts are especially popular with visually impaired children.
You can find out more about Project Linus by visiting: www.projectlinusuk.org.uk
Thanks too to little Oliver Saul who modelled our quilts while waiting for his lunch in Browne's Cafe at the Centre.
Looking Back
