A new, three-day festival focusing on increasing diversity in the engineering sector will take place in Newcastle city centre this spring.
The Face of Engineering Festival , which runs from April 7-9 at The Common Room, will spotlight women working in engineering and aim to encourage the next generation of potential engineers to find out about careers on offer to them.
Liz Mayes, chief executive of The Common Room, said: “According to a recent report by Engineering UK, only 14.5% of engineers are female. We want to help increase that figure and make the industry more accessible to women, women of colour, and female school pupils and students who will be the next generation of innovators and engineers. And to be inclusive of LGBTQ+ people too.”
Tickets for the industry conference and family day of The Face of Engineering Festival are free and can be booked at www.thecommonroom.org.uk.
The Port of Tyne has agreed to sponsor the TEN North East’s Young Carers Respite Service for the next two years.
The service has been operating for 18 years and is recognised as a leading provider of young carer support in South Tyneside. It currently supports more than 250 young carers and over 200 other children with services such as after-school programmes and activities in the school holidays. The Port’s sponsorship will support the introduction of a homework club.
Louise Tinkler, director of human resources at Port of Tyne, said: “We are proud to be supporting local organisation TEN North East who help a large number of young carers and children in our local community. The support provided to them by TEN North East allows the young carers to develop positive friendships as well as develop their confidence and self-esteem.”
Levi Cosker, programme lead for young carers said: “We are so grateful for the support from Port of Tyne, which has helped fund respite activities on Young Carers Action Day and will see the re-launch of the homework club later in the year. The last two years have been tough for all of us and young carers especially have missed out, increasing isolation and anxiety.”
A team of Newcastle lawyers has been digging deep to help launch a new tree-planting project around the city.
As part of its 75th anniversary celebrations, Hay & Kilner set up a partnership with environmental charity Urban Green Newcastle which will see 750 trees planted in parks and green spaces around the city over the next five years.
Trees will be planted in locations including Exhibition Park, Brandling Park and the City Stadium, with Leazes Park being chosen as the location for the first 150 trees due to its proximity to Hay & Kilner’s city centre headquarters.
Managing partner Jonathan Waters, who took part in the Leazes Park event, said: “We wanted to mark our anniversary by creating a positive legacy for the city that will last for the next 75 years and beyond, and what better way than contributing to the well-being of Newcastle’s invaluable green spaces. Getting involved with the planting work ourselves gives us an even greater degree of ownership of the project and it’s exciting to think of what the impact of this first day’s work will be 50 years into the future.”
A North East entrepreneur has joined a new taskforce to help UK SMEs tackle the challenges and barriers they are facing in 2022 and beyond.
Sophie Milliken , who is CEO at Moja Group, is working with the Great British Entrepreneur Awards and Vodafone on the Disruptive Minds project, which aims to bring together leading entrepreneurs and business leaders to provide insights into their experiences. The taskforce combines Vodafone’s digital and technical expertise with the Great British Entrepreneur Awards’ community of business leaders to guide SMEs through a range of advice.
Ms Milliken said: “As a very proud Geordie, I’m really excited to be representing the North East on the Disruptive Minds taskforce with Vodafone. It’s an excellent project which seeks to support entrepreneurs from every region in the UK.
“I will champion the North East and use the views of our entrepreneurs to provide a meaningful contribution that will enable Vodafone to provide services and communities that will generate a positive impact.”
A group of North East business leaders have spent the night outdoors to raise awareness of homelessness in the region.
More than 30 region took part in the latest CEO Sleepout event in Darlington – raising a total of £30,000 for three local charities: the County Durham Community Foundation’s Poverty Hurts Appeal, homelessness charity First Stop and Darlington Mowden RFC for its community projects.
CEO Sleepout chief executive Bianca Robinson said: “This was the fourth event we’ve held in Darlington, and the most successful so far. Last year alone, we raised more than £90,000 across our North East events, which is an incredible feeling. It speaks to the generosity of spirit of people in the region; we are a really neighbourly bunch and look after each other, especially those who have fallen on hard times.”
With additional funding of more than £4,750 from the County Durham Community Foundation, organisers will be able to split the total of £30,000 between the three charities.
