East Durham Trust

LATEST NEWS

Comedy Actor Ricky Tomlinson Opens Foodbank extension titled 'Universal Credit Room'

The Government’s controversial Universal Credit scheme has led to a North East Charity needing to double it’s efforts in relation to Emergency Food parcels in Former Mining Communities.

As they open a new storage facility for their Peterlee-based Foodbank East Durham Trust will be supported by Ricky Tomlinson, better known as Jim Royle from TV’s “The Royle Family” and roles in “Brookside” and “Mike Bassett: England Manager”.

Universal Credit is part of the Governments Welfare Reform package and was rolled out in East Durham just over a year ago. Since then the local charity has seen demand for Food Parcels, Benefit Advice and Debt Support spiral as local people struggle to cope.

Consequently, the additional storage space designated to the Foodbank has been sarcastically referred to by Staff and Volunteers of the Trust as “The Universal Credit Room” and will be launched as such on Saturday 2nd March at 11:00am.

As Chief Executive of the Trust, Malcolm Fallow explained “The introduction of Universal Credit has had a devastating impact on vulnerable people in communities like East Durham. Along with other Austerity measures we are seeing more and more people pushed into poverty. Food parcels are just one aspect of this and we have had to convert a former office space to cope with demand.”

Welcoming the support of Ricky Tomlinson he added, “It gives the staff and volunteers a great boost to have our work recognised by someone like Ricky who is not afraid to put his head above the parapet and support vulnerable people.”

The actor is in the region as he appears later in the day at Redhills in Durham in support of the Durham Miners Gala, and the Chair of the Friends of the Gala Dave Anderson added, “Although our last East Durham pit closed 25 years ago we continue to do everything in our power to support the work of organisations like East Durham Trust as they try to deal with the social and economic fallout of closures.”

East Durham Trust Annual Conference

Each year East Durham Trust hosts a celebration of its work in the form of an Annual Conference. This year the Trust welcomed over 150 people with delegates ranging from our fellow North East CPP leaders to the Durham Miners Association, from funders like County Durham Community Foundation to actual beneficiaries of East Durham Trusts projects. The event provided staff, volunteers and local community groups to come together with funders and stakeholders to celebrate a big year for East Durham Trust. In honour of the Trust becoming lead organisation for East Durham Creates the conference was themed around art and it's capacity for social and economic regeneration.

The conference was a day of highlights but included a talk from Arts Council North Director Pete Massey, who spoke about the positive impact of arts and culture on Hull during their rein as City of Culture. Actress and advocate for the arts Tracy Brabin MP fresh from the House of Commons who spoke passionately about the need to remove barriers for those from working class backgrounds to take up careers in the arts as well as Batley & Spen's own CPP project CreativeScene. Our friend spoken word artist and Slam Poet 2018 Jess Green joined us via video to launch our Suffragette project and perform a poem about why arts and humanities are so important in education. Jess Green gave a special shout out to Chloe, one of our No More Nowt Happens young people who met Jess on our Go and See to Edinburgh and who Jess has been supporting with her own poetry.

Throughout the day delegates were treated to performances by local students including a snippet of their East Durham Creates commissioned Tangent, a piece of theatre using real life stories from beneficiaries of East Durham Trust's projects including the food bank. Delegates were also encouraged to get involved with the arts including poppy pebble painting for the Armistice and activities around our 2nd commission 'If These Walls Could Talk'.

Finally both delegates and East Durham College students were invited to an afternoon at the theatre with a performance of the raw and moving one woman show The Tin Ring, a story of survival and resilience in the face of the worst circumstances. Actress Jane Arnfield was also kind enough to do a Q&A with performing art students and share some of her wealth of experience, inspiring the next generation of actors.

A huge thanks to our keynote speakers Pete Massey and Tracy Brabin MP, Jess Green for her video contribution, East Durham College for their students performances and event support, Jane Arnfield for flying in from Poland to perform, our friends at The Forge for organising the Tin Ring and everyone who attended. See you next year which we're sure will be even bigger and better!

If you have any feedback from the Conference or you'd like to learn more please don't hesitate to get in touch with Jess on 01915693511 or Jess.hunt@eastdurhamtrust.org.uk

Great Exhibition of the North is a big hit with East Durham Residents!

On the 30th August, 41 East Durham residents jumped on a coach to go and see the Great Exhibition of the North in Newcastle and Gateshead- a city wide celebration of Northern art and culture this summer. The 'Go and See' was part of our East Durham Creates project, aiming to increase levels of arts participation in East Durham. The day began at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, where the group were given a guided tour of the Idea of the North exhibition, themed around Northern Identity. They then got the chance to watch a film screening at the Sage of the animation Bridges, which followed characters on their journey down the River Tyne, interacting with the bridges on the way through a musical accompaniment written and performed by Northern Sinphonia. This was followed by a sneak peek at the concert spaces in the Sage and a guided tour explaining the history of the building. For the final activities of the day the group split in two, with half visiting the Side Gallery to see the photographic exhibition About the North: Imagined Dialogues. The Curator of the exhibition shared insights about what’s involved in putting on a photography exhibition like this. The other half of the group experienced Aeons a sound walk along the Newcastle quayside in which music and spoken word was triggered by passing locations on the walk- many found the experience incredibly moving! Comments from participants about how the day made them feel included; 'Less Depressed' and 'made me feel more confident'.

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East Durham Trust launches Lets Create commissioning scheme

At East Durham Trust Membership meeting today we launched our latest Let's Create Commissioning scheme. The scheme will fund up to £2,000 for local community Groups or Individual Artists. The project which is part of East Durham Creates aims to increase new people involvement in the arts. Application and Guidance can be downloaded here:

Application Form
Guidance Notes

If you would like to discuss a proposal or require additional information please contact Colin at East Durham Trust on 0191 5693511 or email colin.jackson@eastdurhamtrust.org.uk

Couch to 5K runners complete gruelling Castle Eden Dene Run for Run East Durham Project

Hundreds of people took part in a grueling 5k trail run through Peterlee's Castle Eden Dene on the 20th June.

The event was part of the Run East Durham project, which is attempting to increase levels of physical activity in the area. The project is funded by County Durham Community Foundation and many of the runners have been working up to the 5k challenge with training sessions held in communities across East Durham, as part of our 'Couch to 5K' programme.

The runners did amazingly well, with everyone making it to the top of the infamous 'heart attack hill'. There were lots of great stories from the runners, many of whom had never done anything like this before. For example it was Margaret's 70th birthday as well as her first 5k run! Even the East Durham Trust staff got involved and have been training together and motivating each other in the office. It seems that the run has inspired many to keep up their training and in some cases join running clubs or become run leaders for the next phase of the project.

Runners were also asked to bring donations to our food bank as part of their entry to the race. We were staggered by the amount of donations we received and are truly grateful for everyone's support.

Trust Launches Exciting New Social Inclusion Project

East Durham Trust today launched the “Walk Together” programme that will see over 40 walks staged across the district with over 300 people taking part. The project is funded by County Durham Community Foundation as part of their “Enriching Later Life” initiative and is aimed at promoting physical activity and tackling social isolation.

Chief Executive Malcolm Fallow explained, “Research shows that as people approach later life their social networks and contact with others reduces. Ultimately this can lead to issues around loneliness and affect mental wellbeing- this project is looking to simply give people the opportunity to mix whilst getting a degree of physical exercise at the same time”.

The walks will be aimed at people aged over 50 and will start and finish at local community venues- always ending with a cup of tea!

Margaret Vaughan from the County Durham Community Foundation explained “As most people are aware County Durham has an aging population and it is great to be in a position to support an initiative that seeks to provide a vital social connection for people”.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the project should contact the Project Co-ordinator Alison Pattison on 0191 5693511.

Young People Watch Birdsong at Gala Theatre

A group of 10 young people went to watch an incredible performance of Sebastian Faulks's Birdsong at the Gala Theatre in Durham, as part of the launch of our 'No More Nowt Happens' project, aiming to get young people more involved in staging arts events in East Durham. The group had a fantastic time and were incredibly moved by the performance. They were also treated to a backstage tour of the sets after the performance and an opportunity to talk to people from the Gala Theatre about different career paths and the process of putting on a show. They learnt about sound, lighting, props and other aspects of the theatre. The group left feeling very inspired!

Go and See - Hull: UK City of Culture 2018

Delegation from East Durham Experiences The Impact!

Almost 40 residents from East Durham took part in a fact-finding visit to Hull which is the UK City of Culture for 2018. The delegation was part of our East Durham Creates 'Go and See' Programme and included people from all walks of life in our community...