Celebrating Small Charity Week: North Benwell Youth Project

This week is Small Charity Week. To celebrate, each day we're going to feature a small charity and tell you about the amazing work that they do. Today's small but wonderful charity is...

North Benwell Youth Project

Helping young people grow to full maturity as individuals and members of society

North Benwell Youth Project was one of the first organisations that I met with when I began locality working in the West of Newcastle. For such a small organisation, I was impressed with how much work they do in the local community. 

The project is based in the heart of the Benwell Terraces, finding a home in two repurposed Tyneside flats on Ellesmere Road. This area is extremely deprived, with most surrounding areas falling in the top decile for income, health and employment deprivation. Children and young people in these areas need safe and welcoming spaces on their doorstep, where they can have meaningful engagement with workers, take part in activities and increase their social skills. North Benwell Youth Project offers this to the local community free of charge, six days a week, despite only having a small building and a small, but dedicated, team of staff and volunteers.

Activities and advice

The project does a range of activities over twelve sessions a week for junior, inter and senior groups, a mum’s group and two music sessions (in collaboration with GemArts). They also offer one-to-one advice for young people and local parents, tackling issues like accommodation, benefits and understanding important documents. They give out food parcels, donated clothes, baby equipment, hygiene products and sim cards. North Benwell Youth Project really understands the needs and challenges of the local community and works to give wrap around support to local families so they can really achieve the right outcomes for children and young people.

Roma community

One thing that stood out to me about North Benwell Youth Project is its connections to the Eastern European Roma community in Benwell, who make up around 90% of their beneficiary base. The Roma community is one of the most left behind groups in England, suffering from poorer health outcomes, lower educational attainment and stigmatisation across media which often influences political decisions and policing. The role of this project as a safe place for the youth of this community is crucial for their integration into the diverse West End of Newcastle. It is great that there is a place with trustworthy people that people can turn to when they need support. 

While we are celebrating Small Charities Week, the month of June is also Gypsy, Roma and Traveler History Month. The theme for 2025 is “Who inspires you?”. I think that we should all be inspired by the work of North Benwell Youth Project. I asked Margaret, the project coordinator, what she had done to make the connections with the Roma Community and she humbly admitted that she didn’t actually know. The main approach was care and consistency – but at the end of the day, that is how you build trust. Connected Voice is proud to have North Benwell Youth Project as a member of the Haref Network and hope to give more of a voice to those representing the Roma Community. 

A strong and lasting community

Remembering back to when I met Margaret at the start of this year, she showed me the report they wrote to celebrate the project’s 25th Birthday last year. (You can see this on their website). The report showed old pictures of the charity and the service users. Margaret pointed out those who now have their own families and whose children now engage with the Project. North Benwell Youth Project hasn’t just provided a sense of belonging and a safe space for young people, it has created a strong and long-lasting community.