Over the last few years, Pennywell Neighbourhood Centre has been working with Gentoo and our key partners in the city to improve the popular community and health centre.
The centre is well used by the local community and hosts a variety of activities including health and self-care projects, gardening clubs, mental and physical health projects and arts and crafts to address social isolation. The centre is also home to North East Dementia Care who offer day care support to residents living with dementia in Sunderland.
The charity has worked with ourselves and other key partners in Sunderland on a number of projects to improve the centre for residents and support the local community, including:
The Bread and Butter Thing
In November 2022, the centre became the first place in Sunderland to open The Bread and Butter Thing food hub, in partnership with Gentoo and RE:GEN. Volunteers from the centre put together bags of nutritious food worth £35 for members who pay just £8.50. The hub has been a huge success in the area and currently feeds 80 families a week.
Internal improvements
We further supported the centre to be approved for a £2,790 Empower grant to upgrade the building’s lighting to use energy efficient LEDs. The grant was matched by Sunderland City Council’s BREEZ fund to provide more than £5,000 to cover the full cost of the LED’s.
We sit on a panel alongside Empower Community Trustees, Sunderland City Council and local residents. Empower grants are available for projects that will deliver a reduction of energy consumption in the local community.
More internal improvements were supported by Bell Group who donated paint to refresh the centre’s corridor.
Aspire Grant
Last year, our Customer and Community Voice Group for the central Sunderland area approved a £500 Aspire Grant for the Neighbourhood Centre that was used towards replacing a piano for their singing group. Having their own piano enabled the group to continue and get together every Wednesday.
John Ford, Partnerships and Funding Manager at Gentoo said: “Pennywell Neighbourhood Centre is clearly an important hub for local residents and plays a vital role in maintaining and improving their health and wellbeing. I’m delighted we have been able to support the centre with gaining additional funding to improve facilities and offer residents access to brilliant project such as The Bread and Butter Thing. We will continue to identify partnerships and funding that help to benefit our local communities and customers in Sunderland.”
Gary Brooks, Chief Executive of Pennywell Neighbourhood Centre said:
“All the support from Gentoo and its partners has improved our facilities, our equipment and our service offer. This has improved the experience for the current users of Pennywell Neighbourhood Centre and will help deliver improved outcomes for residents. It will also allow us to reach an additional number of extra people from the local community in the future.”
Pennywell resident, Denise, regularly attends the singing group at the centre. She sid:
“I love coming to the singing group. I have learned a lot of new songs and made friends. You’re made to feel welcome and everyone is friendly and approachable. Without the new piano the group would have had to stop but now I am looking forward to continuing it with my friend Margaret.”
Pennywell Neighbourhood Centre is open Monday – Friday and hosts a range of activities. To see their activity programme or enquire about volunteering, visit https://www.pennywellnc.org/get_involved
