As we all continue to navigate through incredibly uncertain times, it is important to reflect on what sustains us. For Newcastle United Foundation, it is the power of community that allows us to connect and collaborate to enhance people’s lives.
Our motivators are the generations of inspirational individuals united by our charity. They inform our goals, shape our future and are also part of the Foundation’s most exceptional recent chapter.
We have created significant growth and positive change within our charity throughout 2021/22, supporting more than 69,000 participants on our programmes and officially opening NUCASTLE, powered by Newcastle Building Society – our community hub five minutes’ walk from St. James’ Park. After years of diligent fundraising and with the invaluable support of our funders, NUCASTLE has seen us raise aspirations and create more opportunities for all.
While this has been a pioneering period for the Foundation, we have been establishing a legacy for 14 years now. What we do has only ever been made possible thanks to the incredible support of Newcastle United Football Club, the Premier League Charitable Fund and the generosity of our partners and funders.
We are proud to share with you the outstanding personal achievements of Foundation participants of all ages, all abilities and from all backgrounds in our latest annual review.
CEO, Newcastle United Foundation
We are incredibly proud to continue our partnership with Newcastle United Foundation.
We own and operate 66 award-winning holiday parks spanning 3,700 acres of land across the UK, and are proud to have a particularly strong presence in the North East, which provides the home for our Central Support office and five of our holiday parks.
We are committed to caring for our parks, people, and planet to create positive impact, particularly in the communities in which we operate. As a business which prioritises people and development, we appreciate the transformational work the Foundation does in our region by inspiring and improving the lives of thousands of people.
CEO, Parkdean Resorts
Registered as an independent charity in 2008, it has always been the Foundation’s mission to create opportunities for children, young people, families and older generations to achieve their full potential.
With an acute need for a community space dedicated to education, sport and wellbeing, the Foundation was inspired by the former Murray House Recreational Centre, just to the west of Newcastle city centre and five minutes’ walk from St. James’ Park.
It was a site originally used to provide training for men and boys after the shipbuilding industry declined in the 1930s. Later rebuilt in the 1970s, the site would serve North East people once again as a neighbourhood hub for four decades.
The goal to revive Murray House’s role in the community was endorsed by dozens of the Foundation’s partners and funders – all united by a commitment to improve access to quality facilities and meaningful opportunities in the region.
With the disused building demolished in 2020, work began to construct the Foundation’s new home – NUCASTLE. Across three floors, NUCASTLE provides the space communities need to learn, move, meet and play.
Visitors of all ages are made to feel at home in reception, with NUCASTLE’s ground floor opening into adaptable recreation and meeting space with a multi-purpose sports hall, activity studio and spacious, accessible changing areas.
The Foundation’s wide-ranging personal development programmes are delivered from the first floor in innovative classrooms and STEM room, esports studio, meeting rooms and Foundation staff collaborating in open plan offices.
To top things off, NUCASTLE’s second floor houses a spectacular rooftop football pitch, providing an inspirational view over the city. Players of all ages and abilities can enjoy five-a-side games like no other cheered on by the famous Gallowgate roar and in the glare of St. James’ Park’s floodlights.
In March 2022, former Newcastle United player and Newcastle United Foundation Trustee Shola Ameobi officially opened NUCASTLE for the community in front of 300 guests representing communities from across the North East.
Ameobi said: “I grew up in the West End of Newcastle with my family and during my childhood I’d play football at Murray House and meet friends here, where NUCASTLE is now – it’s where it all began for me. There was always a genuine sense of community here and I am incredibly proud that NUCASTLE has revived that feeling again in the area and I can’t wait to see the positive legacy that NUCASTLE creates for our communities.”
NUCASTLE exists to help communities engage in sport, develop skills, achieve qualifications, build confidence, and progress into further training or employment.
Premier League Kicks Targeted / YOLO
Lee’s turbulent childhood often left him without a safe space to call home. He saw the devastating effects of poor mental health on his family and used the wrong crowds for support. With his own wellbeing deteriorating and school attendance dropping, he was referred to Newcastle United Foundation’s Premier League Kicks Targeted and YOLO programmes to cut his links to local gangs. Moving into foster care just days before the first national lockdown in 2020, Lee had a fresh start. His relationships flourished with Foundation staff and he returned to school with perfect attendance. Now 16 and an apprentice with the Foundation, he hopes to help change the lives of other young people.
NCS / Volunteering
Malva said goodbye to her home in Kobane, Syria, fleeing conflict in 2011. She left behind treasured childhood memories and her education as she navigated treacherous terrain to safety aged only 10. Arriving in the UK as asylum seekers, Malva’s family made Walker, Newcastle, a home away from home. She started school without speaking or understanding English, but soon reignited her passion for learning and joined Newcastle United Foundation’s Premier League Kicks sessions, pursuing new challenges with new friends through football. Now a teenager, Malva continues her personal development with the Foundation, leaving her comfort zone to join its National Citizen Service programme. Malva now looks forward to volunteering with the Foundation and sharing her love for learning with others.
Disability Football
Harry has been a football fanatic for life, playing the sport he loves from age 10 at the Foundation’s Down Syndrome football club. For Harry, weekly free sessions were his chance to build friendships and to simply be himself. It was devastating for Harry when disability football programmes paused in lockdown. Coaches noticed Harry was missing when sessions returned, but the opening of NUCASTLE, the Foundation’s new home, saw Harry re-engage with football again. He aspires to coach and uses Foundation and college development teams to hone his craft. Harry’s football career recently saw him in Spain with the Foundation’s Down Syndrome team, where, as captain, his squad became the only UK representatives among 13,000 young people.
Prince’s Trust TEAM
Bunny struggled with poor mental health – diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome and identifying as a queer person of colour with disabilities came with its struggles. Bunny dropped out of university, feeling hopeless with no confidence to pursue their passion for filmmaking. Bunny qualified for support from the Foundation’s Prince’s Trust TEAM programme, and was inspired by their course leaders to feel more positive. Social anxiety no longer held Bunny back in the safety of NUCASTLE, transforming their life to take on their first job as a runner for a TV and film production company – a dream come true for a young person who thought a bright future was beyond reach.
Arnold Clark Community Fund
Baily Thomas Charitable Fund
BBC Children in Need
Bernicia
Byker Community Trust
Coach Core
European Football for Development Network
FutureMe
Great North Children’s Hospital Foundation
Henry Holmes Benevolent Fund
High Sheriff of Northumberland
High Sheriff of Tyne and Wear
LNER – Customer and Community Investment Fund
Man v Fat
Masonic Charitable Foundation
Michael Carrick Foundation
National Lottery Community Fund
Newcastle Bridges
Newcastle City Council
Newcastle Helix
Newcastle Hospitals Charity
Newcastle University
North East and North Cumbria Suicide Prevention Network
North Tyneside Council
Northumberland Football Association
Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner
Northumbria University
People’s Postcode Lottery – Active Trust
Premier League Charitable Foundation
Prince’s Trust
Professional Footballers’ Association
Provincial Grand Lodge of Northumberland
Sir Bobby Robson Foundation
St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation
Substance
The FB and PFB Lough Fund
The Football Association
The John Horseman Trust
The Squires Foundation
TyneMet College
UEFA Foundation for Children
Your Homes Newcastle
Youth Endowment Fund
Youth Futures Foundation
AMB Packaging
Barclays
Bidfood
Black and White Engineering
Brewin Dolphin
Cedar Packaging
Central Employment
Consultive Solutions
Cool Designs Ltd
Digital Cat Consultancy
First Class Supply
International Risk Solutions Ltd
Liontrust
Muckle LLP
Newcastle Building Society
Newcastle International Airport
NorthStandard
Parkdean Resorts
Pure Panel Management
Robertson Construction
RSM UK
Ryder Architecture
Sage
Sir Graham Wylie Foundation
Sodexo
St. James’s Place
Stagecoach
Suzanne Clark Life and Business Coach
Thompsons of Prudhoe
Todd Milburn
Wade Financial
Banks Community Fund
Crispa Charitable Trust
Football Foundation
Garfield Weston Foundation
Goldman Sachs Gives
Harrison Foundation
Helen McArdle and Family
Joseph Strong Frazer Trust
National Lottery Heritage Fund
Newcastle College
North East Local Enterprise Partnership
North of Tyne Combined Authority
Northstar Foundation
Reece Foundation
RW Mann Trust
Sir Graham Wylie Foundation
Sir James Knott Trust
The Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust
The Clothworkers’ Foundation
Tony Blair Sports Foundation
Benfield School
George Stephenson High School
Grace College
Heworth Grange School
North Gosforth Academy
A special thanks to Serena Taylor and Richard Lee for their photography.
Jonathan Edwards CBE
Gabby Logan MBE
Bob Moncur
Sean Longstaff
Matty Longstaff
John Marshall, Chair
Claire Alexander
Shola Ameobi
Scott Bullock
Darren Eales
Steve Harper
Graeme Mason
Michelle Percy
Mick Thompson
Brian Thorpe
Steve Beharall, Chief Executive Officer
Andrew Foster, Director of Programmes and Impact
Helen Wilson, Director of Finance and Resources
Steve Mack, Head of Compliance
Malcolm Munro, Head of Facilities
Katie Tasker, Head of HR and Administration
Expenditure
2021/22 £5,632,785
2020/21 £4,485,133
2021/22 £5,517,514
2020/21 £3,519,899
Financial information represents underlying income and expenditure – this excludes capital funding pertaining to NUCASTLE