Building Futures East

Charity Details

Full Name: Building Futures East Limited
Field: Community Services
Founded: 2006
Headquarters: Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 3JP
Charity No.: 1125555

History and Activities

Building Futures East is a charity with a focus on community regeneration. Based in Walker, and situated along the River Tyne, Building Futures provides a broad range of employment, vocational and personal development training as well as providing work experience opportunities in disadvantaged communities in the East End of Newcastle upon Tyne and the surrounding areas.

Since its creation in 2006, the charity has worked tirelessly in the pursuit of three central organisational goals. First; they aim to help develop people through skills development, learning, personal capacity building and pastoral support, all whilst cultivating a compassionate, understanding and tolerant environment. Second; Building Futures endeavours to enhance the physical environment of the local communities in which they operate. This not only raises the quality of life for those communities but can raise aspirations for residents. Finally; they wish to help the marginalised and vulnerable integrate into society during difficult transitionary periods such as returning to work after long absence or retraining for a new vocation.

One of the programmes ran by the charity is a quarterly micro-granting event called “Walker SOUP” that helps fund community projects. Members of the community are invited to the event and pay a donation on the door that gets them food for the event, access to fun family activities, as well as a vote for their chosen project. Participants then hear four short pitches from representatives of projects before voting for the one that they believe will benefit their community the most. The project with the most votes receives 100% of the entry donations.

Another example of one of a Building Futures East local community programme is the “East End Women”. The project supports women and children from Newcastle’s East End and Wallsend. They provide a range of therapeutic and skills development sessions that take place in a welcoming environment. These are just two examples of the plethora of projects and services the charity provides to help regenerate communities in need.

Looking towards the future, the charity aims to continue to grow local community projects, such as the “Walker SOUP” programme, to access more areas. Growth will be made possible due to generous donations from a variety of donors. Building Futures East received over £394,019 in 2017, much of it from generous donations. £118,950 was received from generous sponsors including the Sir James Knott Trust, Virgin Money and the Pears Foundation, allowing the charity to secure vital ongoing projects and expand the services offered. The charity spent £438,456 on community projects and other charitable activities.

Vital Statistics (year to 31/09/2017)

Website
http://www.buildingfutureseast.org

References