THE NATIONAL LOTTERY project 2026-2028
Our Vision
Pottery Bank Community Centre will provide a safe and inclusive space where local families and vulnerable individuals can come together, access support, build friendships, and improve their wellbeing. Our facilities include community rooms, a training kitchen, café, food hub, IT suite, allotments and community gardens, and a woodwork shed.
Our project will make a difference by tackling social isolation, food and fuel poverty, poor health, and low confidence. We build on the strengths of local people and empowering them to improve their lives and community.
What We Will Deliver
Our project will deliver a three-year rolling programme of activities:
Cookery courses
Take-home Family cooking packs
Daily access to our allotment, gardens, and nature space.
Weekly Growing courses
Weekly Potters Shed woodwork sessions
Weekly Wellbeing walks and bike rides
Weekly coffee mornings and advice sessions, IT club and craft sessions (term-time)
Weekly pay-as-you-feel supermarket & food hub
Monthly Financial and energy advice sessions
Family fun days, themed holiday activities (during school holidays).
Daily community café
Weekly Luncheon clubs, themed afternoon teas and community food events Signposting, and one-to-one support, as needed
Volunteering opportunities
cookery course
Our cookery courses teach you how to cook healthy meals from scratch and take them home for your family to enjoy using produce from our very own allotment.
Arts & Crafts course
Our arts & crafts make products such as photo frames, cards, cushions and other items from recycled materials.
other courses
Other courses we have provided at Pottery Bank Community Centre have included family take-home cooking, growing, woodwork, first aid and food hygiene to name a few.
Together We Thrive project:
We will provide a range of local friendly and inclusive sessions where individuals feel they can share their finances, debt, stress and strain and have access to a programme of activities and services that improve their financial circumstances, improve mental health and wellbeing, reduce financial anxiety and improve their confidence.
Basic money advice, living on a budget workshops and training
Provide group sessions and one-to-one money advise and support
Offer income & expenditure maximisation advice and understanding/managing your energy bills, plus support with online Energy comparison sites to help lower bills.
IT Support sessions (online access and safe use of internet)
Promote Financial Inclusion for those most vulnerable in the current cost of living crisis
past projects
walker women - women together - cREATING CONFIDENT COMMUNITIES
Our past projects
Walker Women (Jan 2016 - Dec 2018) , Women Together (June 2019 - May 2022) and Creating Confident Communities (June 2023 - June 2025)
were funded from The National Lottery Community Fund.
Our aim was to support and make a real difference to local women in the Walker area of Newcastle and tackle social and financial exclusion at grass-root level. Women who may be experiencing hardship by offering training to develop skills and to create better opportunities. We had a clear mission that would enable women in the local area to have the self-belief, skills and experience they need to be better able to find a route out of benefit dependency and become more financially independent.
