The country’s largest electricity sub-station is to be built on the site of the former Redcar steelworks - paving the way for data centres. Better Teesside than Texas or Abu Dhabi, says Mayor Ben Houchen.

He doesn’t want to introduce a tourist tax in the Tees Valley - but North East Mayor Kim McGuinness is all for it in her mayoral authority. If only the council leaders in the region felt the same way.

There may be trouble ahead - despite it looking like the councils would be powerless to stop the introduction of a levy.

The continued effort to decentralise power from London continued this week with the announcement of the creation of eight water boards, bringing together local authority leaders, customers, farmers and developers.

A 134-year-old Newcastle institution closed its doors this week, a police chief urged parents to lead by example and challenge harmful attitudes towards woman and girls, more North East buildings have been added to the Heritage at Risk register, and a newly-launched radio station could be in Dire Straits already.

Brian Aitken
Editor

Taxing times ahead

Proposals to implement the so-called tourist tax took a step forward with the introduction of the Visitor Levy Bill in the Commons on Wednesday.

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said the levy would allow communities to benefit from the millions of people who visit our wonderful towns and cities each year. “Every pound raised through these levies will stay in the local area. This is about giving mayors and local leaders the choice to invest back into what matters most to local people, while protecting lower-cost stays and making sure businesses have their say.”

Choice. An important word here.

Areas that want to introduce a visitor levy must set out their plans, including proposed rates, thresholds, exemptions and how money will be spent, alongside an impact assessment. The Government said a local consultation will then follow to ensure local people and businesses have their say.

We know that North East Mayor Kim McGuinness wants to introduce the levy because she is adamant it will create jobs and allow investment to bring in even more tourists. But her Tees Valley counterpart Ben Houchen will choose not to.

The leaders of five North East councils - Northumberland, Sunderland, Gateshead, Durham and South Tyneside - would choose not to have a levy in their areas. But the choice would not be theirs because they would lose the power to veto the charge if the Bill is passed.

Mayor McGuinness has already been accused of megalomania by one senior Reform politician and there will be a lot of people with plenty to say in the consultation if this BBC report is anything to go by.

To be continued.

Powering on

Power company National Grid has bought a large plot of land at the Teesworks site to create the country’s largest electricity sub-station - paving the way for the creation of data centres on the site of the former Redcar steelworks.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “Everyone who’s tried to build a data centre or large-scale advanced manufacturing, technological or energy-intensive industrial developments in this country knows the biggest problem is getting enough power to the site quickly.

“If Britain is serious about having its own AI capability and other advanced manufacturing technologies, with sensitive data stored safely on British soil, it needs somewhere to physically put it, and I’d much rather that was Teesside than Texas or Abu Dhabi.”

Further south, energy giant Drax has announced a partnership with Brookfield and AI business Radiant to develop a data centre at its North Yorkshire power station. The overall investment could top £20 billion, with an initial £2.5 billion committed as part of the first phase.

Data centres aren’t getting the most positive press at the moment, especially on the other side of the Atlantic, and Chancellor John Healey said in last week’s Budget that any new data centres would have to show that they would benefit local communities, create jobs, and protect local water supplies.

Talking of water supplies…

Water councils introduced

Eight regional water councils are to be set up. The bodies, which will bring together 10 to 15 people including mayors or local authority leaders, customers, farmers and developers. It is expected they will agree regional priorities on flooding, drought, water quality and supply,

Mayors will also receive new powers through the strengthened Water Bill to hold water companies to account for their performance. The reforms, announced yesterday by Environment Secretary Angela Eagle, are part of the Prime Minister’s drive to move power out of Westminster.

“I know how desperate people are for change when it comes to water,” said Andy Burnham. “I share their frustration at seeing sewage and pollution blight our rivers, lakes, and seas, while decisions about their local areas are taken miles away. That’s not right. So for the first time, local people will have a real say over what they need from their water company.”

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Held to account

The Government is setting up a Local Audit Office to lead the reform of the auditing of the accounts of councils, combined authorities and some other public bodies, some of which have fallen into a state of chaos and delay in recent years.

The four members of the Tees Valley Group – Tees Valley Combined Authority and the Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and South Tees development corporations – are repeat offenders, having missed the last two audit deadlines, reports Peter Morris in North East Bylines.

The Government says it is now taking action to rebuild assurance and create a system that is simpler, more resilient and better able to support public accountability.

“At a time when the Government is piling extra powers and funding on mayors and other local leaders to help it achieve its ambition of good growth in every postcode, it is essential that there should be effective accountability as well,” says Morris.

“The current system of overview & scrutiny and audit & governance committees has been weak at best and a catastrophic failure at worst, as we have seen in Tees Valley. The new Local Audit Office has a chance to do much better. It must be robust at exercising its powers.”

Talking of development corporations…

Regeneration bodies to go

The Middlesbrough and Hartlepool development corporations are to be dissolved within a year, pending a vote at next week’s Tees Valley Combined Authority Cabinet meeting. Labour Mayor Chris Cooke is happy to see the back of the development corporation in his town centre, believing that it has achieved “very little”.

North East sparkles

There’s a real North East influence in this year’s John Lewis Christmas ad. Sam Fender covers the Rolling Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want, backed by the Easington Colliery Band and the choir from his old school, the John Spence Community High School in North Shields.

Then the ad’s opening scene sees Kristin-Scott Thomas open the door wearing a necklace and bangle from North Shields fashion brand TUTTI. John Lewis stocks TUTTI jewellery but founder and creative director Kate Rose was unaware of its supporting role until she saw the ad.

Misogyny call to parents

Parents should lead by example and challenge harmful attitudes towards woman and girls, says Northumbria’s Police and Crime Commissioner Susan Dungworth.

Her comments followed a YouGov survey which found almost one in three parents had noticed misogynistic behaviour among children at their child’s school - with 17% saying they had noticed it among their child’s friends and 7% saying they had noticed it in their own child.

She is encouraging parents to sign up for free active bystander training - helping them build the confidence and practical skills to safely challenge sexism, harassment and misogyny if they see it.

Demolition bill doubles

The cost of demolishing the A167 Gateshead Highway flyover has almost doubled to more than £32m. The council, meanwhile, has announced that it has applied to the Department for Transport’s £1 billion Structures Fund to restore the strategic road network through the town.

Buildings ‘at risk’

The Londonderry Institute in Seaham and the 19th century Christ Church in Felling, Gateshead are among the buildings added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register this year. Other sites added include the Church of St Edmund in Edmondbyers, County Durham, Northumberland Hall in Alnwick, the Church of St Mary in Blanchland, Haggerston Dovecote in Ancroft, and Featherstone Castle near Haltwhistle.

Loftus Conservation Area in Cleveland, meanwhile, has been removed from the at risk register after a derelict church was transformed into an artists’ space, a new training hub was created, and shopfronts were restored in the town. Holmslinn lead mine in Allendale and West End Dovecote in Houghton le Side near Darlington were also removed.

A quick word

Northumberland County Council has agreed a revised contribution of £7.5m to revamp The Maltings in Berwick. Work is due to start at the end of the month with the venue, including a theatre and two cinemas, expected to be open in spring 2029. Stockton councillor John Coulson has resigned from the Conservatives to sit as an independent, saying he has had enough of political fighting and point-scoring. The school meals subsidy in South Tyneside is to be reduced to 80p, increasing the daily price of a meal from £3 to £3.50. The council said the poorest families will not be affected, with 46% of children in the borough eligible for free school meals. A meeting about child protection failings in Durham had to be postponed for a second time because not enough councillors were in attendance. Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen was due to update councillors on the force’s progress in September - but that meeting was postponed for the same reason. Stockton councillors have agreed to buy Billingham town centre for £13m with a view to halting the centre’s decline and paving the way for future regeneration. The scheme to dual the A66 between Scotch Corner and Penrith may end up costing £2.67 billion - more than double its initial estimate, according to National Highways. A public consultation in South Tyneside on giving powers to tackle the use of face coverings and balaclavas during incidents of anti-social behaviour or crime will close on Sunday November 22. So far, 300 people have taken part. An organisation that wants to see lynx reintroduced to the UK has lost a High Court challenge over Natural England’s refusal to assess whether the animals could be released into Kielder Forest.

Mourning Mark Toney

Mark Toney is/was a Newcastle institution. Sadly the 134-year-old business has closed both its ice cream parlours and cafes in the city centre. Regular reader Jack Arthurs got in touch to say: “We’re mourning Mark Toney’s closing, Brian”! He shared the bad news with playwright, poet and publisher Peter Mortimer who said: “Mark Toney’s was like a sealed time capsule while the rest the world went helter-skelter speed beyond their doors.”

Marketplace award

Hartlepool indie band Marketplace has become the first group to receive an award from the Tees Valley Artists of the Year programme. Now in its third year, the programme provides each recipient with almost £30,000 in financial backing, alongside mentoring, professional development, business support and access to industry networks.

The other winners announced at The Auxiliary in Middlesbrough this week were dance artist Anthony Lo Giudice, writer Carmen Marcus, Hartlepool visual artist Stuart Langley and singer-songwriter Jodie Nicholson. The initiative forms part of Tees Valley Combined Authority’s wider investment in the region’s creative industries, cultural sector and visitor economy.

Business bites

Two Newcastle entrepreneurs are harnessing the power of AI to help organisations tackle the challenges of managing asbestos risks across their buildings. Brothers Paul and David King, founders of Flow Software Solutions, have launched Dutyholder.ai, a platform designed to simplify asbestos management for councils, housing associations, universities and other property owners. Paul said: “The industry has been crying out for innovation like this.” Two Gateshead factories which were home to Zentia and its 180 staff before its collapse earlier this year have been acquired by Turkish ceiling manufacturer Prosista in a multimillion-pound deal. The move could create job opportunities for more than 100 people. The deal includes machinery, stock and intellectual property, with Prosista already recruiting former workers. The vacant Debenhams store in Sunderland is to be converted into an indoor go-karting centre, creating around 40 jobs. South Shields engineering firm METEC UK has landed four major contracts worth a combined value of more than £3.6m. Biodiverse Consulting, founded in 2019 by managing director Vicki Mordue, has been acquired by Global Ecology and Environmental Group in a move which will see all 32 staff join the London-based company. Mercia Ventures is encouraging female entrepreneurs to seek investment from the North East Accelerate Fund. Mercia, which manages the fund, has backed seven businesses that were female founded or have women in senior roles since February and is keen to back more. Weardale Lithium has secured investment of £500,000 from Business Durham to progress preparatory works at the former Eastgate cement works in Weardale. The project aims to establish the UK’s largest lithium extraction facility, producing battery-grade lithium carbonate from geothermal groundwater. Technology firm Kromek has landed a £1m follow-on contract to supply detector components for its client’s medical systems. The order is expected to be completed over the next 12 months. British Steel is encouraging local people to apply for next year’s apprenticeship and graduate schemes. More than 40 new workers will be employed across sites in Scunthorpe, Teesside and Skinningrove, starting in September 2027. They will join 70 apprentices and 16 graduates who started this September.

1999 ad break

Not many 30-second commercials stay with you. Yet more than a quarter of a century after its debut, the Jaffa Cakes “Full moon. Half moon. Total eclipse!” remains one of the most quoted advertising catchphrases of the 1990s. And I’m willing to bet that the vast majority of you who remember the advert will not realise that boxer Chris Eubank played a part in it. He does the short voice-over at the end. Have a listen. It’s definitely him.

THE WIDER VIEW

Boro in focus

The i Paper’s housing and society correspondent Vicky Spratt went to Middlesbrough after it was named as the hardest place in England to grow up in a recent report by the Children’s Commissioner Rachel d’Souza.

“As I spoke to young people in Middlesborough, the same issues kept cropping up,” she said. “Poor transport links, the loss of thousands of industrial jobs and the hollowing out of the town centre have made getting a foot on the career ladder feel impossible.”

She met James who is currently on the Movement to Work scheme, which is offered by the Government as a way of breaking the cycle of young people needing experience in order to get jobs by offering them quality work experience, either within the civil service or with major employers like the National Grid and Tesco.

Labour’s welfare tsar, Alan Milburn, is set to deliver his report on how to fix Britain’s youth unemployment crisis soon. “But spending time in a town like Middlesbrough lays bare the problems he is facing – and that’s before we get into where the money comes from.” You can read her article here.

Music - ‘a glorious soup’

This week saw the launch of GB Music Radio, a station funded by GB News owner Paul Marshall that will only play a song if the singer or the “main proportion of the band is British”.

All British, All Day is their slogan, promising a solid diet of Rolling Stones, Dire Straits, Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa and Adele. Writer Otto English does a really good job of explaining the problem they have set themselves in Byline Times.

“Music is born out of fusion,” he writes. “The best of it is a glorious soup, spawned from many and varying ingredients. Its very hybridity defies the ‘purity’ of ethnonationalist logic and all attempts to control, contain or cancel it. It reaches out and embraces the world beyond too and that is what long made British pop so good.

“There would have been no rock and roll at all if it hadn’t been for African American artists like Leadbelly, Sister Rosetta Tharp and Big Mama Thornton and as it seeped across the Atlantic big names absorbed everything that followed.

“Delta blues informed the Rolling Stones, and Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Ravi Shankar all variously influenced the Beatles. Caribbean migrants gave us ska, reggae, jungle, drum and bass, dubstep, garage, and the grime scene.”

You get the picture.

Otto gets more specific. “The GB Music press release bigged up Dire Straits on their playlist – but are Marshall’s minions aware that lead singer Mark Knopfler is the son of a Hungarian Jew who came here as a ‘fighting age refugee’? Dua Lipa is the daughter of Kosovan refugees too – so are her hits OK with these self-appointed gatekeepers”?

The British rule means no royalties for Georgian-born Katie Melua, Kosovan child refugee Rita Ora, Anglo-Indian Cliff Richard, Argentinian-born Irishman Chris de Burgh and all the lads in Boyzone, Westlife and U2. And what about Fleetwood Mac, a British band who became quite American. “Will GB Music only play their early stuff, or will they ‘go their own way’?”

Second helpings

Long-time readers may remember a small article I did a year or so ago about ‘second mentions’. This happens in news stories when journalists try to avoid repeating the same words.

So, in a story about strawberries, for instance, the second time they go to write the word ‘strawberries’ they may say ‘sweet red fruit’ instead. That’s the second mention. And it avoids the repetition.

Juliet and Matthew Maguire are the husband and wife team behind the Twitter account @SecondMentions. They became fascinated by the journalistic habit of the “elegant variation” and eventually wrote The Little Book of Second Mentions: The Art of Avoiding Repetition (which I got as a present last Christmas).

Among the second mentions they spotted in newspapers: Marmite - “the beloved yeasty spread”; Snakes - “the hissing reptiles”; and Tiramisu - “the coffee-centred pudding”

I was reminded of second mentions this week. There was a story about Rice Krispies no longer containing any rice (I think that means they snack and crackle but don’t pop) and the second mention described them as “the tiny toasted puffs”.

It’s an art form.

Hello. I have my fingers crossed as I type this (not easy) because this is the first edition I have sent out using thesourcenortheast.com as the main web address.

I sincerely hope nothing goes wrong. Me and technology do not always get along, you understand.

I have been publishing Eyes & Ears as a free-to-read newsletter on Substack since December 2024. I launched the online newspaper The Source North East - the new home of Eyes & Ears - in September.

This may seem a small (insignificant) thing to you, but I was reluctant to change the Substack domain address just in case something went wrong. Well, it often does.

But, I’ve only gone ahead and done it! Everything and everybody tells me you will notice no difference. Please let me know if they are wrong.

Today’s edition is a relatively brief one. It’s all about words and why they matter.

Next edition is Friday - when my Eyes & Ears will be open!

Headline statement

Journalism Matters. That’s not just a statement of fact, it’s the name of an annual campaign run by the News Media Association. This year’s campaign has been backed by Prime Minister Andy Burnham, no less.

“At moments when communities are at their most vulnerable, good local journalism can bring people together and separate fact from fiction,” he said. “We saw that after Southport and, more recently, in Belfast, when trusted reporters challenged lies and misinformation being spread online.

“That is exactly what this year’s Journalism Matters campaign is about: recognising journalism not as a nice-to-have, but as part of the national infrastructure of a healthy country and democracy. It holds power to account, strengthens our resilience and connects people to the places they call home.”

Devolution, of course, means strong regional journalism is more important than ever. That is why we launched The Source (I’ve got news for you - 15.09.26).

Around 150 people attended a breakfast event at The Catalyst in Newcastle where Steph McGovern joined me and Simon Rushworth to launch The Source. Steph, a proud Northern lass and self-confessed “gob on a stick”, is investing in The Source and is encouraging more people to support our quality journalism.

Here’s how she described it…

Independent, politically-neutral but North East biased, The Source is a modern platform for regionally unique public benefit journalism and a launchpad for the next generation of great storytellers.

We were successful in obtaining equity funding from the North East Accelerate Fund managed by Mercia. That gave us a base from which to launch The Source, with Eyes & Ears - my weekly digest which many of you will have been receiving in your inboxes for nearly two years - finding a new home in the new online newspaper.

We will provide you with more issue-led journalism, a focus on regional affairs, serve up informed opinion and engaging columnists, and produce quality stories on the people and places that make the North East such a great place to live.

It’s important I manage expectations here. I stressed at the launch event that we need to walk before we run. To do that we need more funding, more subscribers - and the support of sponsors and advertisers. That’s where you come in.

To be clear, a bigger, better, and well supported The Source can only benefit the region.

How you can help

If you are a subscriber then encourage other people to sign up - family, friends, colleagues, clients. Use your social media networks to tell people about The Source.

We currently have more than 3,000 people signed up to get The Source delivered to their inboxes every week. You can help us get to 4,000 - and beyond.

If you are already a free subscriber then the most sustainable way to support us is to become a paid subscriber - it costs £6.99 a month and you can do that here:

Subscribe now

But there are other ways to get involved.

HMRC runs a Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme which gives tax reliefs to individuals to incentivise them to support early‑stage companies like ours. That’s what Steph is doing - and we would welcome more modest investors like her and Lady Jane Gibson (actually, we would welcome more adventurous investors as well, so long as they accept we are not going to be a tech unicorn!).

Tier One Capital chief executive Ian McElroy spoke at the launch event about the importance of trust and integrity in a media organisation in an age of misinformation. He suggested we find 10 companies who will support us to the tune of £5,000 a year - “and if you’re prepared to do that I’ll be the first”.

Pleased to say that others have since joined him - but we still need a few more.

To go back to the Journalism Matters campaign, Andy Burnham’s intervention comes as concerns grow about the decline of local news provision across the country. Although 95% of adults access local news, the Prime Minister warned that the commercial market alone could not guarantee its survival.

He said as many as 37 local authorities had no dedicated news outlet, leaving up to 4.4 million people living in what are described as local news deserts. The government is seeking to address the problem through its Local Media Action Plan, including a new Local News Fund (LNF) offering up to £12 million over two years.

Local newspapers, websites and independent television and radio stations have been able to bid for grants to invest in technology, multimedia journalism, attracting younger audiences and developing new sources of revenue.

I did. I failed.

It will be interesting to see which companies and projects were successful in the first round of LNF awards. The announcement is long overdue and it was thought it had been delayed until the PM’s backing for the Journalism Matters week.

Still we wait.

There’s always next year when the second half of the £12m will be up for grabs.

I wanted funding to hire a reporter who would specialise in public benefit journalism - an important role that would make such a difference to the media eco-system in the North East.

The Government, apparently, isn’t up for supporting the proposition right now. Are you? I have launched a Crowdfunder with the specific purpose of recruiting such a specialist journalist.

To contribute, click on:
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/thesource

Brian Aitken
Editor

On the one hand the North East is attracting the kind of investment that could rewrite its economic story. On the other, we have the lowest healthy life expectancy of any English region, a quarter of our working-age population is economically inactive, and three in ten children are growing up in poverty.

Two sides, same coin, one region, writes Anni Hood in her column for The Source today. The Government is desperate for growth - but closing the health gap between the North and the rest of the country could generate an additional £18.4 billion a year. “That shows the shape of the problem,” she says. “And, more positively, the size of the prize.

“The North East has an unusually powerful mix of ingredients. It has capital arriving at a scale that is changing the energy and regional momentum. It has living affordability in sharp contrast to the South East. We have mayors with real devolved powers, universities producing research the world buys, and a charity sector that knows every street by name. Add that to space, abundant nature and a coastline the envy of the country.”

That amounts to what she calls the most exciting opportunity in the country. Her column ‘The money’s arriving. Are we ready?’ is at the end of today’s edition.

Six Sunderland teenagers are making a big noise in the music world and have just released a video to accompany their debut single. It features some iconic Wearside landmarks - and a cameo from three well-known faces from the business community (whose teenage years were several decades ago).

Plus, the North East’s first bookbank will open on Thursday - at a food bank in the west end of Newcastle. Collecting a book with a food parcel is feeding the mind and the body - a brilliant way to bring books and reading to those most in need.

Brian Aitken
Editor

‘Food for the soul’

A charity which has already given away more than 25,000 books is bringing its mission to Newcastle, offering free reading material to people using the city’s food banks.

Bookbanks will launch its Newcastle service on Thursday at Newcastle Foodbank’s Venerable Bede Church site in the West End. The charity sets up pop-up book stalls inside food banks, offering everything from children’s stories and cookbooks to poetry and classics, with trained volunteers helping visitors find something they’ll enjoy.

Working alongside local organisation Borderline Books, Bookbanks Newcastle will operate every Thursday from 10am to noon. The charity’s North East lead Asa Beckett said: “We have a diverse, enthusiastic and very bookish team of volunteers raring to go. After visiting and working alongside food bank staff a couple times at the site, the food bank’s guests come from all walks of life, and the site receives such a multi-cultured and international collection of attendees.

“I’ve really tried to represent this diversity in the books we have sourced, and I’m so excited to see our stall interact and engage so positively with the food bank community in the West End as other existing Bookbanks stalls have demonstrated.

“Bookbanks’ focus on providing new quality books means we want people to feel as though they’ve come away with a book they’re proud and excited to have in their home - a book they can cherish (or break the spine of!) themselves.

“I’ve already started reaching out to potential new partners in other locations in the North East - Sunderland, North Tyneside and Middlesbrough are all being particularly considered. We aim to open our second site in March, and will be recruiting our second team of volunteers throughout January and February.”

I wasn’t expecting that

I was expecting to see the Penshaw Monument, Roker Lighthouse, the Stadium of Light, Winter Gardens and a flashmob performance in Sunderland’s Keel Square. I wasn’t expecting to see former ITV Tyne Tees boss Graeme Thompson, entrepreneur Paul Callaghan and former Northumbrian Water executive John Mowbray popping up on a seafront park bench though.

The trio make a cameo appearance in the recently-released video for the first single by Sunderland group Northern Daughters. The six teenage members - Izzy Gettins, Lola Waite, Lola Cairns, Annette Ambang, Isabelle Dutton, and Molly Daymond - met at the city’s Inspire Stage School.

The song Open Arms is designed to spread a message of unity and belonging across Sunderland, and that is exactly what the video does too. Councillor Ciera Hudspith said: “Open Arms is a fantastic example of how culture and creativity can bring people together, create opportunities and celebrate the talent and spirit we have here in Sunderland.

“The song has become much more than a piece of music - it is a lasting legacy from BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend, showing what can happen when local talent, schools and communities are given the chance to be part of something creative and ambitious. We were delighted to support the project through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, helping to ensure that the excitement around the weekend created something meaningful and lasting for communities across the city.

Gemma Waite, Principal at Inspire Stage School and the manager of Northern Daughters, said: “We are immensely proud of everything the girls are achieving. They are six very different personalities, but they share such a strong friendship, an incredible work ethic and a genuine love of performing. When they step onto a stage together, their energy and connection are impossible to miss.

“To have created the music video in Sunderland, surrounded by so many local people, schools and organisations, makes it even more special. The reaction has been fantastic and we can’t wait for even more people to see it.”

A quick word

This year’s Fenwick Christmas window display is based on the Julie Donaldson book The Gruffalo’s Child. It will be seen from today. It was thought to be a done deal, but the takeover of Gateshead FC by US-based Flacks Group is in danger of collapsing because of the involvement of another company who had agreed to buy the club last March and have not confirmed their interest has ended. Members of Stockton Council’s Labour-run Cabinet will decide on Wednesday whether to go ahead with the £13m purchase of Billingham town centre. Cabinet member for resources and regeneration Paul Rowling said there were both risks and opportunities attached.

The money’s arriving. Are we ready?

By Anni Hood

The North East is attracting the kind of investment that could rewrite its economic story. The question not getting so many headlines is whether the people who live here are in a position to absorb the financial advantage. Answer that properly, and we stop being the national underdog and become the region everyone wants to copy.

The good news is also exciting news. Nissan has announced £170 million for its tenth Sunderland model in the plant’s fortieth year. SeAH’s £900 million Teesside monopile factory has begun production, Fujifilm opened a £400 million Billingham expansion this year, and JDR’s £130 million Cambois cable factory began operations in May. Alongside these commitments and completed facilities sits a substantial pipeline: the Blyth and Cobalt Park AI Growth Zone could attract up to £30 billion and more than 5,000 jobs, including Blackstone’s £10 billion commitment through QTS, while the Port of Tyne is proposing a £175 million Clean Energy Park. Confirmed investment and proposals are different stages of the story, but together they show global chequebooks open on the table. Whether those chequebooks stay open comes down, in no small part, to mobilising the region’s people and delivering a return they can share in.

Two sides, same coin, one region

Here is the other set of numbers, from the same region. The North East has had the lowest healthy life expectancy of any English region in every period of the ONS series beginning in 2011–13. A quarter of our working-age population is economically inactive, against roughly a fifth nationally; 2025 data shows that around a third of those inactive cited long-term ill health and three in ten children are growing up in poverty.

Some aspects are getting worse. Hannah Davies, Chief Executive of the Northern Health Science Alliance and Executive Director of Health Equity North, pointed me to their new research in The Lancet Public Health.

The study found that excess mortality among women aged 25–49 was 41% higher in northern than in southern England in 2024. In the 1980s, northern women in their late twenties and thirties had no excess mortality compared with the South. If you’re talking about productivity, that is a huge issue.

We report these things on different pages. The investment goes in the business section, the life expectancy in the health section. As if the people building the cars and the people in the health statistics live in different places. Quite often they live in the same house.

Health Equity North estimates that closing the health gap between the wider North and the rest of England could generate an additional £18.4 billion annually. Its analysis attributes 36% of the gap in GVA (Gross Value added – the economic value generated in an area, divided by the number of people living there) per head to poorer health in the North. That shows the shape of the problem and, more positively, the size of the prize.

The absorption gap

Anyone who has tried to wipe up a spill with a bone-dry kitchen sponge knows what happens. The sponge isn’t broken. It just hasn’t been primed.

Financial capital arrives. Absorption makes it stay and appreciate. It is the capacity of people, workplaces and public services to turn investment into something a family in Hartlepool, Gateshead or Ashington can actually feel: a job they are well enough to do, a school that is coping, a GP they can see and proactive support upstream of issues.

When absorption is low, money can land but run off to supply chains elsewhere and workforces that commute in and out. When it is high, more of the same pound can circulate, compound and stay. Hannah puts it simply:

“Bringing in the jobs helps massively… but giving people the health to be able to access their capacity is of very high value return for the region”

Where absorption actually happens

Absorption isn’t built in boardrooms. It is built at the grassroots of community. When I asked Hannah what she would fund if an investor handed her a cheque, she didn’t hesitate.

“Fund breakfast clubs, fund youth clubs, fund family hubs, women’s health hubs… we know communities in the third sector make a massive difference.”

We have the evidence. Sure Start centres, built around parents and particularly mothers, were later shown to improve children’s educational attainment, with benefits lasting to GCSE age and a grade higher on average, across the board . Many have since closed. So here’s a suggestion for the community commitments that arrive with big investment: invest in infrastructure behind the frontline work the evidence backs. That’s the money that primes the sponge.

Why this is the most exciting opportunity in the country

The North East has an unusually powerful mix of ingredients. It has capital arriving at a scale that is changing the energy and regional momentum. It has living affordability in sharp contrast to the South East. We have Mayors and combined authorities with real devolved powers, including the North East’s integrated funding settlement, universities producing research the world buys, and a charity sector that knows every street by name. Add that to space, abundant nature and a coastline the envy of the country.

“There is a huge amount of unrealised potential in the North East,” Hannah told me. She sees no reason why the region cannot grow as much as other parts of the country.

We also have the right size. The North East is small enough to measure with granularity and big enough to matter. If capacity-led growth can be proven anywhere, it can be proven here, and what we prove could become a national model.

What leading looks like

All of this needs tracking. What if every major investment in the region carried an absorption line next to its jobs line, built around five readings?

Local reach: how many new roles go to people living nearby, including people moving out of inactivity?

Capacity trajectory: what happens to health and work in host communities in the years after the ribbon is cut?

Public capacity: are local services growing alongside the investment or shrinking beneath it?

Grassroots reach: how much community money reaches the frontline work that the evidence backs?

Supply chain depth: how much of the spend stays in the region rather than leaving via the A1 South?

Capacity isn’t a soft issue. It is measurable, it moves, and it shows up in business and regional performance. When I ran a capacity protocol with Weir Insurance in Blyth, not only did participants feel better, they measured better. In the ten-person study, blood pressure improved in all ten, inflammation markers improved in seven and cholesterol diminished in six.

Hannah makes a point that often gets overlooked: many small businesses lack the resources to fund occupational health support themselves. Shared support through combined authorities and community organisations could help close that gap.

The local café cannot build its own capacity infrastructure, but it can plug into a shared, inclusive one.

It includes everyone

Absorption and citizen capacity isn’t something done to communities from somewhere on high. It means the global investor and the local café owner, the youth worker, the plant supervisor on nights and the woman who’s been out of work for three years with a back injury but wants to return. It also means the child Hannah describes: “If you are too hungry, if your mum is working too many jobs, so you can’t get to school on time, you’re not going to really realise that potential.”

The fork in the road

In its 2024 report, IPPR North projected that the healthy life expectancy gap between the wider North and the South East would endure until 2079-80 if the trends it analysed continued. Are you prepared to wait that long? Current trends are a choice, not a weather system.

Hannah is clear about our ability to change direction: “It’s policy decisions that saw that decline, and we can reverse that by better policy decisions because people in the North East of England want to achieve. They are ambitious and they are capable.”

The region goes one of two ways. Either it becomes the cautionary tale of record investment running straight off the worktop because the sponge is still dry, or it proves that capacity-led growth works, from the grassroots up, and hands the rest of the UK the playbook.

• Anni Hood is a human systems and infrastructure architect. As founder of Well Intelligence, she provides consultancy insight and business modelling that deliver framework and protocols, via the AstralMandala welltech platform, for de-risking human capital.

Anni’s previous column for The Source looked at why the next phase of AI adoption is less a technology decision and more a human one. It was published in Sunderland, 10,000 jobs and the capacity equation on October 14.

And finally…

It was a rather unexpected headline. E-bike rental company Lime issued a warning that its bikes were “not for jousting” after footage was posted online of two riders dressed as knights charging at each other in a London park. “While we appreciate the medieval spirit, safety must always come first,” the company said.

The warning went unheeded. On Saturday, actor Cameron Carnegie-Brown, who jousts as Camtholomew the First, and artist Jack Carden met for a second duel in front of thousands of people with the match raising funds for five charities.

To manage the crowd, they released the event location two hours beforehand to those who had submitted an RSVP to the event, which was capped at 5,000 people.

Tommy Moore, a 28-year-old content creator who was involved in the event, said: “Horses are quite hard to source in London, so we thought we’d go for Lime bikes and bring it into the 21st Century.”

The devil is in the detail, as the saying goes. And there’s a lot of detail still to come following Wednesday’s Budget.

Journalist Susie Boniface, aka Fleet Street Fox, says if you are truly desperate to know what the Budget means, there are two sensible options open to you: 1 - Ask a gilt trader; 2 - Wait.

Well, the gilt traders have given a mildly approving shrug to John Healey’s deliberately boring Budget. And, while we wait, we can reflect on some good news - the International Investment Summit coming to Gateshead in 2027, an £85m investment to transform the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult’s facilities in Blyth and funding for the regeneration of Gateshead Quays (more detail required on that one).

Budget announcements are a common thread that runs through today’s edition.

The chancellor gave the go-ahead for mayors to introduce an overnight visitor levy from 2028 - prompting one deputy council leader to accuse Kim McGuinness of being a “megalomaniac mayor”.

Data centres will have to abide by a new set of rules - which includes protecting water supplies and investing in local communities - and changes to the Treasury’s Green Book could see the dualling of the A1 back on the table.

Also in this edition, there’s an apprenticeship brokerage scheme coming to the North East in April next year which will create employment for 1,500 young people - with the prospect of more funding to extend the scheme.

The Turner Prize exhibition is pulling in visitors to Middlesbrough and The Source’s story on the threat to the Local Healthwatch network has had an immediate impact, with Health Secretary Yvette Cooper pledging to retain and strengthen them.

Newcastle, still basking in the glory of a successful Mercury Prize award ceremony (and Fringe), has announced that the 6 Music Festival is coming back to the city next year for the first time in 12 years.

And I get a bit sentimental about the death of Patrick Stewart - one of the best nights of my life was spent in the company of him and two other celebrated raconteurs.

Chance to shine

Gateshead was a big winner in Wednesday’s Budget and MP Mark Ferguson was keen to make the most of it - with good reason.

“Gateshead helped build Britain’s industrial past, and by hosting the upcoming International Investment Summit, we now have the chance to show the world how we can help build Britain’s future,” he said. “We can showcase on the world stage Gateshead’s leading advanced manufacturing innovation, thriving creative industries, ambitious local businesses and brilliant schools and colleges developing the skills of the next generation.

“I’m also pleased that the Chancellor has announced new financial powers for mayors to invest in major projects. That creates opportunities to make progress on the long-awaited regeneration of Gateshead Quays, including the proposed arena. We’ve waited too long to see that site fulfil its potential.”

The financial powers he talks about lie within the new North East Good Growth Fund which comes with a pot of money still to be announced and the ability to raise loan funding for specific projects. That, along with fiscal devolution, we need to hear more about.

Mayor McGuinness said: “After years of fighting for the investment we deserve, I’m delighted we now have a North East Good Growth Fund helping us to deliver projects like a new arena in Gateshead and film and TV studios in Sunderland and these will just be the start.

“We will also get new powers to keep tax raised from these major developments and others. It’s about time we stopped sending all of our tax to Westminster and instead use it right here in the North East. It’s good to see the Government agrees.”

Plan for apprentices

The North East has secured its place in a new Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) apprenticeship brokerage programme, expected to bring up to £10m of investment over three years and support 1,500 additional apprenticeship starts by March 2029.

At least 375 places will be for young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Due to launch in April 2027, the pilot will initially focus on housing, leisure and tourism, and advanced manufacturing.

The plans were signed off by the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority on Tuesday - not the most difficult of votes the Cabinet will face - and the scheme could get even bigger with the mayor’s office expecting a second tranche of funding from the DWP.

Cabinet member Christopher Eynon, the leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “If a young person misses out on one apprenticeship, we should be doing everything we can to help them find the next one, understanding the challenges, and making it easier for the small businesses that are the life blood of our economy to harness the potential they have to offer.”

Taxing times ahead

A vote on helping young people into employment may have been an easy one for the North East MSA to make. I suspect the Cabinet would find it far harder to get an accord on an overnight visitor levy - aka the Tourist Tax.

It was in North East Mayor Kim McGuinness’s manifesto and it was confirmed in Wednesday’s Budget that mayors and other strategic authorities will have powers to introduce a levy from 2028. The four Reform council leaders in the North East have already made it known they are against it - as is the Conservative administration in Northumberland.

The issue was raised at a meeting the Prime Minister had with regional mayors last Thursday where McGuinness asked if the levy would require Cabinet approval or not.

This prompted Durham’s deputy leader Darren Grimes to later accuse her of being a “megalomaniac mayor”. He said: “In May last year, the people of the North East voted in their hundreds of thousands for councils that would stand up for them. Kim McGuinness has just asked the Prime Minister to make those votes worthless.” A comment that probably doesn’t stand up to too much scrutiny.

The mayor said: “When I was elected I said my plan is to introduce a small charge on hotel rooms and use this to fund major events in our region. I guarantee this will create jobs and bring in thousands of tourists. There is no Reform plan to grow tourism. Nothing.”

The power of The Source

Or should that be The Source of power? No sooner had The Source drawn attention to the inadvisability of abolishing Healthwatch England and the 153 branches of Local Healthwatch, (Who’ll look after your health? 26.10.26) when along came the new Health Secretary, Yvette Cooper, pledging to retain and strengthen them. This is quite the turnaround from the plans of her predecessor, Wes Streeting, who resigned on the very day his mammoth Health Bill landed in the Commons.

Cooper’s decision now begs even bigger questions, says our columnist Bob Hudson. What happens now about the proposed abolition of NHS England, for example, and the savage cuts to the main commissioning bodies, the regional Integrated Care Boards? NHS reorganisations rarely go smoothly but this one seems to be unravelling before it has even begun.

The power of The Source

Chancellor John Healey made a committment to provide an additional £430m to tackle rough sleeping, alongside a package of support for social housing and construction.

He said: “We’ve already promised everyone sleeping rough a route off the streets this winter, and today I can confirm a further £430m to keep that offer open for the rest of this Parliament, not just this winter, but every winter. This is a moral mission for me. It’s a moral mission for the Prime Minister. It is a moral mission for the Labour Party.”

This came just two days after Abu Ali, a corporate finance partner at FRP Advisory in Newcastle, wrote a column in The Source about how his childhood friend Lee Halpin decided to spend a week sleeping rough as part of a documentary he was making on Tyneside’s growing homeless problem - and never woke up.

That is why Abu has been driven to do what he can to end the homeless epidemic - more people are homeless in Britain today than at any point in our history. You can read that article below - along with ways to support CEO Sleepout UK.

Question of priorities

Two wildlife trusts are set to take over the 9,500-acre Rothbury Estate after a £1.9m grant from the Government helped them close in on the £30m required to purchase it from the family of the Duke of Northumberland.

But not everyone is happy. Councillor Guy Renner-Thompson, chairman of Northumberland Conservatives, said: “This Government has its priorities wrong. Farmers were left scrambling for SFI funding in an application window that opened and closed the same day. Yet ministers can find nearly £2m to help a charity buy an estate. Defra should be focusing its support on our farmers and fishermen, the people producing our food and sustaining Northumberland’s rural and coastal communities.”

The trusts attracted support from the likes of Sir David Attenborough and said there is the potential to develop a “40-mile nature recovery corridor stretching from the North East coast to Kielder on the central Scottish border”.

Miners’ pension boost

Former miners have been battling since 1994 to stop the Government taking half of any investment surplus from two of their pension funds. Their victory was signalled in the Budget when Chancellor John Healey said the 50-50 agreement would end and all surplus cash would be paid to pension holders.

Burt Moncur, who worked at Murton Colliery in County Durham, told the BBC it was “the best news” but urged pay-outs were made as quickly as possible as former miners were dying every day.

A real head-Turner

Around 13,000 people have visited Middlesbrough in the first month of the Turner Prize exhibition opening at MIMA. Dr Laura Sillars, dean of culture and creativity at Teesside University and director of MIMA, said: “I was always confident that Middlesbrough would rise to the challenge of hosting the Turner Prize but it is fantastic to see this delivered and people coming here from across the country to witness the cutting edge of British art.

“The response from critics has been incredibly positive, but just as important is the opportunity to introduce thousands of children and young people to the Turner Prize. With the schools programme fully booked until January, the Turner Prize’s impact will continue well beyond the exhibition.”

Cautious covenant welcome

Blyth and Ashington MP Ian Lavery has given a guarded welcome to Chancellor John Healey’s Budget announcement of a set of rules for data centres which means they must protect water supplies, create local jobs and invest in communities.

US firm QTS is building a giant £10 billion facility at Cambois in south-east Northumberland and a further two applications have been made to the county council for data centres nearby.

“I need to understand what this AI data centre covenant actually means,” the MP told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. “But, broadly speaking, it does address the issues I have been raising and I am pleased with that – but I am not sure whether it could cover the impact of having three or four data centres within two square miles.”

Green (Book) light for A1?

The dualling of the AI north of Morpeth could be back on the Government agenda after an announcement of a rule change in how decision-making is carried out (we’re talking Green Book here which has taken on almost mythical status over the years).

North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said: “I’ve been pushing for a change in the rules on how the Government decides what schemes represent value for money because for decades those rules have been holding our region back.

• A petition calling for the dualling of the A1 and signed by almost 15,000 people has been delivered to Downing Street. The signatures were gathered by the Northumberland A1 Safety Alliance during a five-day walk from Berwick to Newcastle last week. It was handed in by co-founder Kezz Petronelli-Stone and Tory Borders MP John Lamont.

The balaclava problem (contd)

Cleveland Police said there is a “substantial” problem with very young males wearing balaclavas and causing “fear and alarm within our communities”. Redcar and Cleveland and Middlesbrough councils are drawing up public space protection orders (PSPOs) which could see offenders who refuse to comply with being asked to take off balaclavas fined or taken to court.

The force, meanwhile, is to receive a further £3.2m in the wake of a crash that killed two officers and five young men and prompted a large-scale operation tackling organised crime. The cash is on top of £2m previously pledged, but not yet paid, by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood amid claims the force was unfairly penalised by national funding rules.

The joy of 6

They’ve barely finished sweeping up the confetti from last week’s Mercury Prize ceremony, but Newcastle already has another major music event to look forward to. BBC Radio 6 Music has announced that its flagship festival will return to the city next spring, 12 years after Newcastle and Gateshead hosted a memorable weekend of live performances, conversation and musical discoveries.

The 6 Music Festival will take place from Monday, March 15 to Friday, March 19, 2027, with five days of gigs and DJ sets across Newcastle’s independent and grassroots venues. The full line-up and participating venues will be revealed in 2027.

Sunderland’s 6 Music presenter Lauren Laverne, who hosted the Mercury Prize on Tyneside for the second time last week, sounded buzzing to have a working reason to return to the region in 2027. “Having grown up in the North East, I know just how much music means to people here and the important role it plays in local culture and communities.” Sam Wonfor has more in Cultured. North East here.

Showcase for students

While the stars of British music were taking centre stage at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena for last week’s Mercury Prize ceremony, students from Newcastle College were busy making their own contributions behind the scenes.

From creating bespoke gifts for shortlisted artists and VIPs to preparing food for the awards dinner and welcoming guests, students from across the college put their skills to work at the high-profile event. Principal Jon Ridley said: “The Mercury Prize is a massive event in British music, and Newcastle College ​students delivered it.”

Charity inquiry

The Charity Commission has launched an investigation into “serious concerns” about the management of Adapt (North East) following allegations of “significant” payments being made without full approval of trustees.

Chief executive Hannah Harniess, who joined a year ago, said she raised concerns about financial arrangements. Based in Hexham, Adapt provides community transport, wheelchair hire and other help for people with sensory, physical and learning disabilities in Northumberland, Tyneside, Sunderland and Durham.

Commission bosses said they began assessing financial and governance concerns in July this year and later opened a regulatory compliance case to examine possible misconduct or mismanagement.

Harniess told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that Adapt’s services would continue to operate. “I welcome the commission's inquiry and will continue to assist its work,” she said.

A quick word

Tickets for Sam Fender’s stadium tour next summer had to be pushed back 24 hours after the ticketing website was hit by a “sophisticated bot attack”. Plans have been lodged to knock down The Fish Shack in Amble and replace the wooden structure with a two-storey building with roof terrace which “seeks to retain the charm and distinctive character of the existing establishment, while enabling the business to expand its catering offer and improve ancillary facilities”. North Tyneside Council has set aside £1.7m to rebuild the causeway at St Mary’s Island which is visited by 100,000 people a year. The Save the National Glass Centre campaign group has failed in its attempt to get listed status for the building which closed in July. Site custodian Sunderland University, meanwhile, is holding an open online auction for around 200 pieces equipment from the centre. A Redcar and Cleveland councillor who said he was too ill to attend meetings and then attended one in time to avoid losing his seat has now resigned. Lib Dem Graham Jeffery was said to suffer from a lung condition and received advice to avoid large indoor events and air conditioned places.

Vape laws welcomed

The North East tobacco control agency Fresh has welcomed new laws aimed at stopping children getting hold of vapes and other nicotine products.

Ailsa Rutter, director of Fresh and Balance, said: “Tobacco smoking is our single biggest preventable killer, and it is vital we encourage adults who smoke to switch completely to vaping. However, it is important the law is tightened up to reduce the appeal and the access of children to nicotine products.”

The new laws make it illegal for adults to buy or attempt to buy vaping or nicotine products on behalf of someone under 18, and ban promotional giveaways, substantial promotional discounts, and vending-machine sales of such items.

Business bites

Founding shareholders Gordon and Gill Green have sold Team Valley-based marine civil engineering specialist Southbay Civil Engineering for an undisclosed sum to Cheshire company Orange UK Holdings (owned by entrepreneur Simon Orange, the brother of former Take That singer Jason, in case you’re interested). The existing management team of MD Paul Stephenson and operations director Antony Ballantyne will remain in charge. Teesside property agency Orange Sales and Lettings, a firm run by landlords for landlords, has been named Residential Agency of the Year at the National Property Awards in Birmingham. Newcastle-based rail operator Lumo and the Theatre Royal have announced a partnership which involves financial support, discounted tickets and working on community outreach projects. Successful North East business Hodgson Sayers has been acquired by United Infrastructure for an undisclosed sum. Founder and Chair Billy Hodgson said: We’ve built a strong reputation, developed long-standing relationships with our customers and, importantly, invested in the people who have helped make the business what it is today. Joining United Infrastructure represents an exciting opportunity to build on those foundations.” The North East-based owner of the Tommy Tippee brand has significantly reduced pre-tax losses with Mayborn Group bosses now confident of a return to growth. Newcastle-based Atelerix, which is revolutionising cell preservation and biological transport, has signed a two-year memorandum of understanding with Frontier Space, which is building platform technology for in-orbit R&D and biomanufacturing.

1992 ad break

Airplane, Naked Gun, Police Squad!… you knew what you were getting when Leslie Neilsen took on the starring role. It was no different with the series of ads he featured in for Red Rock Cider in the early 90s - “it’s not red and there are no rocks in it”.

The ads were made in the style of Police Squad! but retitled Fraud Squad! This meant Nielsen could play a version of Lieutenant Frank Drebin without anyone paying for the rights to the character. This ad has him ‘undercover’ at Ascot - where he found Hank Marvin lurking in the shadows!

The Red Rock ads were produced by John Lloyd, who is best-known for Not the Nine O’Clock News, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Blackadder, Spitting Image and QI. He also presented the pilot of Have I Got News For You, when it was provisionally called John Lloyd’s Newsround.

THE WIDER VIEW

One of a kind

I was so sorry to hear that Patrick Stewart, the star of Star Trek and X-Men, had died aged 86.

Please allow me to name drop and tell you about one of the best nights of my life. It was on April 23, 2012, and involves Patrick, Sir Ian McKellen and Simon Callow. That’s the end of the name dropping (but what a way to end!).

In 2010 I agreed with Newcastle Theatre Royal that The Journal would be the media partner for a public vote to find the North East’s favourite Shakespeare character - leading to a sculpture being commissioned and unveiled on the Bard’s birthday during the Theatre Royal’s 175th birthday year in 2012.

Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet came out on top. Ramy and Marilyn Zack from the Biscuit Factory funded the statue. Local sculptor Lisa Delarny won the open commission and her bronze sculpture was unveiled by actor Jonjo O’Neill who had played Mercutio on the Theatre Royal stage.

We were all invited to a private dinner after the unveiling, where we were joined by the trio I have just name dropped - who were no strangers to that same stage.

It was a privilege to be in the company of three such raconteurs. I know it was brilliant but for the life of me I can’t remember anything they said - but I’ll never forget how they made me feel.

RIP Patrick. You were a delight.

Serial thriller

On Monday we brought you David Whetstone’s interview with Robson Green as his new TV series The Northumbria Mysteries hit our screens for the first time (Who’ll look after your health 26.10.26). He name-checked commissioner Helen Munson as someone who had returned to her native North East and was making a real difference.

Today, Sam Wonfor talks to Helen about the production, the North East’s growing TV industry, the opportunities for local talent - and her childhood growing up in Wardley, Gateshead, where she would pore over the Radio Times at Christmas, highlighter in hand, planning everything she wanted to watch.

She loved television and knew she wanted to work in it.

What to judge?

You may have come across references to a “well-known” figure who is fighting in the High Court to avoid his name being made public.

The Guardian and ITN journalists have stories about his alleged “inappropriate and exploitative sexual activities” but it is unclear if they will ever see the light of day - even though you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to find out who he is on social media.

The High Court has heard that reporters have spoken to more than 100 people, including women making allegations as well as friends and colleagues of the man, and that it was in the public interest to put the story out there as the similar testimonies given by people who did not know each other indicate a “pattern of behaviour”.

But the man is seeking an injunction on the grounds that he would attempt suicide if the information was made public. His lawyer said publication “would have a potentially fatal impact”.

This is new territory. A decision is expected early next week.

But Lee Halpin bedded down in a derelict hostel one night and never woke again. He was just 26.

That was 13 years ago. It was a huge national story and it still pains his childhood friend Abu Ali, a corporate fina…

Read more

Which makes what is happening in our health service so politically puzzling. “What’s going on with Local Healthwatch,” asks our columnist Bob Hudson.

Local Healthwatch, in case you don’t know, is the independent, statutory champion for people who use health and social care services in England. There’s one in every local authority area, 153 in all, supported nationally by Healthwatch England.

And they’re facing the chop.

At a time when there are so many complaints and concerns about health care, it makes no sense to get rid of the voice of local independent scrutiny, says Bob. Handing their role over to NHS providers and commissioners is tantamount to letting them mark their own homework.

Is it a done deal? Maybe not. The NHS Modernisation Bill was introduced by the Starmer government not Andy Burnham’s. As Bob writes: “Having gambled on the merits of placing decision-making closer to the people affected by them, what does he now do about a Health Bill pulling the NHS in the opposite direction.”

Another decision in Burnham’s in-tray is who should get the next contract to build and operate British military satellites and communications through the 2040s. The choice rests between a Franco-German company (the holders) and an American company (who would create jobs in County Durham).

We have shocking statistics about the age people die - a North-South gap that has widened alarmingly in the past four decades.

Coatings are big business but remain among the least sustainable components of products in modern life. Now Newcastle and Northumbria universities, working with Sunderland Software City, are leading a new national network to change that.

The Recommended reads at the end of this edition includes an interview with a woman whose accent used to enrage one of her teachers. She is now devoting her energies to supporting and reviving the rich vein of dialects in our region.

Mortality gap triples

Death rates among adults aged 25-49 were 13% higher in the North than the South in 1981. By 2024 the gap grew to 42%, according to a study published in The Lancet Public Health.

The study, led by researchers from Liverpool and Manchester universities and Health Equity North, shows the relative North–South gap in this age group has more than tripled over four decades.

Dr Luke Munford, Senior Lecturer in Health Economics at the University of Manchester, said: “Our study reveals a deepening of the North–South mortality gap, with worrying long-term trends among northern working-age adults and women in early to mid-life, which is particularly concerning given their role in shaping the health and life chances of the next generation.

“These are trends that government cannot ignore. They need to invest in health, specifically in areas that have poorer health outcomes, to build a healthier, more resilient society and a stronger economy.”

Hannah Davies, Chief Executive of the Northern Health Science Alliance and Executive Director of Health Equity North (HEN), said: “Targeted action is needed in the hardest-hit communities, informed by robust research and combining prevention and healthcare with action on the wider social and economic determinants of health.”

On track for Olympics

Not sure if this counts as a ‘leak’ but Chancellor John Healey is to announce a £7m fund for a full feasibility study on bringing the Olympics to the North in his Budget on Wednesday, according to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.

North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said: “When Northern Mayors first came together to champion a Great North Olympics and Paralympics some said it could never happen, that we were being too ambitious. They were wrong. It can happen, the North can deliver and this is another huge step forward.”

Defence jobs dilemma

Andy Burnham is refusing to sign off a £2 billion deal to hand Lockheed Martin control of a contract to build and operate British military satellites and communications - one that could generate 500 jobs in County Durham.

A tender to upgrade the Skynet system, which would cover building new satellites, managing ground stations, and delivering secure communications for the British Armed Forces through the 2040s, kicked off in 2023. The competition pitted Franco-German aerospace and defence giant Airbus against US rival Lockheed Martin.

Airbus has been involved with the Skynet since 1974. It directly employs 650 people at sites in Stevenage and Portsmouth and supports a further 2,500 roles. Lockheed Martin is planning to build a new factory in Durham and hire about 500 people to design, deliver and operate the contract. It is thought that roughly 2,000 jobs will be supported.

Lockheed Martin is said to be the preferred candidate, according to the Sunday Times. But Unite, the country’s second-biggest trade union, is against and the decision has now been passed to No 10 for final approval.

Lockheed Martin said concerns were overblown. “Lockheed Martin UK, a British company, will establish facilities to develop an ecosystem alongside our regional partners in northeast England to provide the UK with a sovereign space capability. It will create jobs, supply chain opportunities, and the potential for exports. It will have a UK design authority and a UK chief engineer.”

North East leading the way

Coatings are everywhere, from giant wind turbines aeroplanes and cars to frying pans, spectacles and mobile phone screens. The sector supports more than 635,000 jobs and contributes an estimated £45 billion to the UK economy.

But coatings remain among the least sustainable components of modern products - they are rarely designed to be repaired, removed, or recycled. Now Newcastle and Northumbria universities, working with Sunderland Software City, are leading a new national network to change that.

Surfaces for a Sustainable Future (S4SF) has won £1.38 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and already has 20 partners including AkzoNobel, Procter & Gamble, Walker Subsea, the Royal Society of Chemistry and Durham and Teesside universities.

The project is led by Professor Elizabeth Gibson of Newcastle University, with Northumbria’s Professor Matt Unthank as co-lead. It will bring together the UK’s scattered expertise to develop safer alternatives, cut the energy used in manufacturing, and design coatings that can be repaired or recycled.

The potential gains are significant. Better anti-corrosion coatings could extend the working life of offshore wind turbines by 10 to 20 years, for instance. Repairable coatings could cut waste in refurbishing high-value components by up to 70%.

Unrepeatable

While researching his independent review into anti-Semitism in schools, Sunderland University vice chancellor Sir David Bell encountered several students who were so traumatised by the verbal abuse they had received in the classroom that they were unable to repeat the slurs.

“Can you imagine what that must feel like?” he asked in an interview with The Telegraph. “It really brought home to me what it must be like to be a member of the Jewish community in Britain right now.”

Sir David’s report set out 27 recommendations, including dedicated anti-Semitism training for teachers and strengthened safeguarding for Jewish students. All have been accepted by the Government.

Another Mercury moment for Newcastle

Eight hours at the Utilita Arena Newcastle, including two spent shoulder to shoulder with fellow content gatherers in a back room masquerading as a red carpet arrivals area, and I was still smiling on the journey home. That should tell you something about the Mercury Prize 2026, says Sam Wonfor.

For the second consecutive year, the eyes of the music world were on Newcastle as the great, the good and the groovy gathered to celebrate 12 of the best albums released in Britain and Ireland over the past year. It was quite the night and you can read Sam’s feature for Cultured. North East by clicking here.

Something to celebrate

Robson Green was always a “cheeky bugger” says David Whetstone. The pair go back a long way - to the days when Robson was performing in productions at Live Theatre and the Newcastle Playhouse (before it became Northern Stage).

David caught up with the actor again as his latest TV series, set in some of Northumberland’s fabulous locations, made its debut on the BBC. The Northumbria Mysteries was made by Newcastle production company Lonesome Pine - and that’s something to celebrate, said the actor.

“How many times have you heard it said that we need to make more drama in the North East and how do we do that? It’s about getting the writing talent up here and getting the commissions, and now we have a local commissioner, Helen Munson (of the BBC), living here and she’s getting things done. She really is.

“And the money’s there to get those things done and I think it’s important that a local production company in the North East is making quality, classy drama that’s going to be shown around the world and watched by millions of people.

“But what you’re also doing with things like this is creating an infrastructure so there’s enough work here for people to stay, and to train other people. Hopefully this will become a self-sustaining thing.”

A quick word

Alan Shearer paid an emotional visit to Morpeth to personally thank Keith Dungait who defied the odds to raise money for the Move a Mile fundraising challenge organised by the Newcastle United legend’s foundation. Keith was paralysed from the waist down eight years ago after diving into a swimming pool in Majorca and hitting his head on the bottom. Shearer said: “To go through what he has and then take on a challenge like this to help other people is just incredible. Move a Mile was always about showing that anyone can get involved, no matter their ability or circumstances, and I don’t think there’s a better example of that than Keith.” Northumbrian Water’s Louise Hunter has become the first person to be awarded the Institute of Customer Service’s Mini-MBA in Strategic Service Leadership, a new qualification designed to help organisations deliver better services for customers. A Reform councillor in Newcastle has been criticised after reposting an image which said: “Stop using THEIR barbers. Stop eating THEIR takeaways. Stop using THEIR taxis. If you want them out of YOUR town, stop putting money in their wallets. Hit them where it hurts!!” Deputy council leader Mark Mitchell said: “Reform in Newcastle need to stop liking racist tweets and Facebook posts. Or else they need to accept that they will continue to be seen as condoning racists and the far right.” A blood donor centre is set to open in the Faber building at Riverside Sunderland. NHS Blood and Transplant will take space on the ground floor of the building for a dedicated blood and plasma donor centre.

What’s going on with Local Healthwatch?

By Bob Hudson

Nigel Lawson wasn’t too far wrong when he asserted that ‘the NHS is the closest thing the English have to a religion’. But what can we do if our faith is shaken? When things go wrong, as they inevitably will on occasion, it exposes the Achilles’ heel of the NHS – accountability to patients and the public. And it’s a weakness that is about to get worse.

Here in the North East we aren’t short of high-profile health scandals. The deaths of three teenage girls under the care of Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust has been under investigation for years, and is now the subject of a public inquiry. The North East Ambulance Service has come under investigation over allegations of a cover-up linked to patient deaths. And currently County Durham & Darlington NHSFT stands accused of a monumental neglect of duty of care in relation to its breast cancer service, with the Prime Minister pledging an inquiry to ‘get all of the answers’.

While these cases garner headlines, there are thousands of individual episodes where patients have a grievance, or where the public have wider concerns that risk going unheeded. Typically, the first recourse for those seeking redress is via one of the 153 branches of Local Healthwatch (LHW) across England, of which there are 12 in the North East, matching our local authority boundaries. Yet now, under its mammoth NHS Modernisation Bill 2026, the Government is proposing to abolish these organisations. What’s going on?

What Is Local Healthwatch?

LHW is only the most recent of several attempts to enshrine patient and public accountability into the NHS. The best example of these initiatives was Community Health Councils (CHCs), introduced in 1973 with a directly elected element, and holding genuine powers over individual patient complaints, inspections of local hospitals, and curbs on major local service reconfigurations. CHCs lasted 30 years until the then Health Secretary Alan Milburn (we’ll come back to him) abolished them, to widespread dismay.

A changing cast of replacements has followed such as Patient Advice and Liaison Services (PALs) and – since 2013 – Healthwatch England (HWE) and LHW. HWE is the national statutory committee that supports LHWs, and the latter have a statutory duty to promote and support the involvement of the public in health and social care services. They operate as social enterprises, funded by and accountable to, local authorities and - despite lacking the more wide-ranging powers of CHCs - are an important voice for patients and the public.

The NHS Modernisation Bill – the brainchild of former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, aided and abetted by Alan Milburn (yes, him again) - proposes a massive centralisation of new powers for the Secretary of State. In this scenario, HWE/LHW (along with the requirement for foundation trusts to have elected councils of governors), will disappear. Replacement arrangements are unclear: HWE functions will go into central government and LHW functions will be transferred to hospital trusts or the main NHS commissioning bodies, Integrated Care Boards.

The Response to Abolition

The official objective of abolition is said to be a simplification of the patient safety landscape, but LHW branches in our region (and elsewhere) have responded with horror. LHW Sunderland has expressed ‘deep sadness and disappointment’ and said it does not understand the implication of the proposals. LHW Newcastle argues that abolition will weaken accountability, transparency and genuine public involvement across health and social care. In a hard-hitting rebuttal of the threat to their existence, the 14 LHW branches across the North East and Cumbria have laid out the impact of their work. This includes hearing from over 85,000 people; 3800 residents helping to shape NHS dentistry research; 4500 people contributing to work on women’s health; and 2500 people sharing views and experiences on access to GP services.

Abolition of the local voice in healthcare is politically puzzling. First of all, at a time

Read more

You think you know all the acronyms there are then another one comes along…

NETERs anyone? They’re the over 50s equivalent of NEETs. Both groups share not being in employment, education or training. But NETERs are also not yet retired. It’s a growing issue - with a north-south divide, according to the Centre for Ageing Better.

Middlesbrough has not had a good press lately. This week the town was named one of the hardest places in England for children to grow up in - along with Sunderland. Then judges knocked it out of the running to be named UK City of Culture 2029.

But there’s a spirit there and mayor Chris Cooke said: “We’re rolling up our sleeves to go again.”

Two Middlesbrough favourites, Bob Mortimer and Steph McGovern, have not only sold out their evening at the Town Hall, the box office had to stop taking names for cancellations after the waiting list grew to over 1,000.

North East Mayor Kim McGuinness has been reflecting on the promising trade mission to India - and helping to launch the second HogmanHoway 5k which will see runners racing on Northumberland Street in Newcastle for the first time in 40 years.

Durham’s deputy council leader Darren Grimes has hit back at critics after “ITV skullduggery” captured him on film giving media training to controversial Reform UK candidates.

A Northumbria University criminologist has been awarded a £100,000 prize, Raye won the Mercury Prize in Newcastle, Sam Fender has announced a Proper Massive Stadium Tour (which kicks off at St James’ Park naturally), and somebody needs to have a word with the council in Darlington - they’ve started to put up their Christmas decorations.

In October!

Brian Aitken
Editor

It’s hard…

Middlesbrough has been named as one of the hardest places for children to grow up in the country, according to a landmark report by the Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza.

Sunderland also made the bottom 10 in the report, The Childhood Lottery, with the rankings based on almost 100 metrics covering access to health and social care, education and housing, safety, opportunities to play and whether children have a voice in the decisions made by leaders.

“The postcode lottery is real,” said Dame Rachel - a point illustrated by the fact that Halton, which is also in the bottom 10, borders one of the best places to grow up, Cheshire West and Chester, and is not far from another top 10 area, Cheshire East. “Devolution represents a chance to solve this,” she said. “If it is truly a project to rewire the state, there may not be an opportunity so significant in a decade or more.”

…but not impossible

The Childhood Lottery report said the lives of too many children were now “Dickensian with a modern twist”, citing drugs and social media as two main areas where young people were exploited.

But deputy principal for curriculum and students at Middlesbrough College, Aimey Adamson, said: “There are real challenges for some children and families, but this is about the circumstances around young people, not their talent, their ambition or their potential.

“I see resilient, ambitious young people every single day and the challenges are real, but it shouldn’t define our young people. I think their postcode shapes their starting point, but it never defines where they’re going.”

Middlesbrough’s Labour mayor Chris Cooke said the report’s findings were nothing new. “They’re linked to multi-generational social problems, inequalities in funding and national policies going back decades,” he said.

There’s more to come

It was the first joint Northern mayoral trade mission. It lasted a week and involved 200 people from business, education, tourism, culture and sport to explore opportunities in India. Was it a success? Probably. Certainly not a failure, and there’s the prospect of more to follow.

Every part of The Great North delegation will have its own success stories. In the North East, County Durham-based Low Carbon Materials progressed plans for a new green supply chain, exploring a supply partnership with Indian start-up Ground Up, which was founded by two former Durham University graduates.

Sage announced the recruitment of 128 new graduates and apprentices, 83 in Newcastle and 45 in Bengaluru. And the Centre for Process Innovation signed a letter of intent with India’s Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council to strengthen collaboration in biomanufacturing.

Mayor Kim McGuinness, chair of The Great North, said: “We’ve set the groundwork for an entirely new relationship between the North East and India - one that delivers investment, growth opportunities for businesses, builds new innovation and research partnerships, and creates jobs and prosperity.

“This mission has opened the doors for international trade, we have created new partnerships between universities and innovators, and we’ve invited the people of India to discover our amazing region.”

NETER reading

NEETs is that horrible acronym we hear all too often these days as the number of young people not in education, employment or training continues to grow - with the North East having the highest proportion of them in the country.

NETERs was a new one on me. NETERs are the over 50s equivalent of NEETs and stands for not in employment, training, education or retirement. The term was coined by the Centre for Ageing Better. Their analysis has discovered something of a north-south divide - with the North East having the highest proportion of them in the country (I was able to cut and paste that from the paragraph above).

Almost one in four people (24%) aged 50 to state pension age in the North East are NETER, against 17% in the South East. In the North East, 64% cite ill health or disability as the main reason for this, compared with 47% in the South East.

Dr Andrea Barry, of the Centre for Ageing Better, said: “If the Chancellor is to deliver a Budget aimed at realising the Government’s strategy for pursuing good economic growth in every postcode of the UK, this must include meaningful financial support to arrest the alarming regional differences in NETERs. There can be no sustainable growth in every postcode while too many people in their fifties and sixties are shut out of opportunity.”

The Centre wants NETER published as a regular headline labour-market figure, alongside unemployment and NEET statistics.

Dear Chancellor…

The thinktank True North has set out a five-point ask of Chancellor John Healey ahead of next week’s budget. Top of the agenda is support for young people through accelerated devolution of skills delivery and a reversal on the NI and minimum wage hikes on employing under 25s to incentivise businesses to get young people into employment. Other calls include an investment in infrastructure, including the A1, and the scrapping of the green levy and tourism tax.

‘Robust questioning’

Durham’s deputy council leader Darren Grimes was secretly filmed giving media training to controversial Reform UK candidates during ITV’s year-long undercover investigation into Nigel Farage’s party

Liberal Democrat councillor Amanda Hopgood, the former leader of Durham County Council, said: “The racist, extremist and offensive views exposed have no place in our politics, let alone among people seeking to represent our communities. But what should concern residents of County Durham even more is the involvement of Darren Grimes in providing media training to candidates facing questions over controversial material they had shared.

“The question is simple: was Reform UK more concerned with challenging unacceptable views, or teaching candidates how to defend themselves when those views came under scrutiny?”

Labour MP Luke Akehurst said: “I’m astonished if Councillor Grimes is seen as a useful expert trainer for Reform candidates given his own output of inflammatory and offensive AI generated social media posts.”

But, Grimes said he would not be lectured to by opposition parties. “ITV skullduggery filmed me putting candidates through robust questioning about what they’d posted online,” he told The Northern Echo. “Other parties seldom bother vetting their candidates at all. Perhaps it’s something they could learn from.”

‘Wrong way’ driving

It is just under nine weeks since a car travelling the wrong way on the A66 resulted in the deaths of two police officers and five young men. Cleveland Police have reported this week that there have been three more cases of cars being driven against the flow of traffic - two on the A66 and one on the A19.

In one of the cases, a 16-year old has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at Teesside Magistrates Court. A 16-year-old passenger was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class A drugs and was bailed while inquiries continue.

Bird flu outbreak

About 2,000 birds have died and 30,000 more are to be euthanised at a large poultry farm near Belford in north Northumberland. Northumberland councillor Guy Renner-Thompson said no other poultry farms were within the 1.9-mile protection zone but he remained concerned about the potential financial impact on other farms in the area, especially those with turkeys in the run-up to Christmas.

Criminologist’s £100k prize

Northumbria University criminologist Dr Alexandra Hall has been awarded one of the UK’s most prestigious research prizes for work examining the links between crime and illicit economies. She is one of 30 recipients of the 2026 Philip Leverhulme Prizes, awarded by the Leverhulme Trust to early-career researchers whose work has already achieved international impact.

Her research has spanned illicit markets in drugs and counterfeit goods and, more recently, freeports and Special Economic Zones (SEZs). The £100,000 prize will enable her to develop a new book project examining tax havens, charter cities, offshore financial centres and emerging digital jurisdictions.

Raye of hope

What a fantastic night at the Mercury Prize ceremony at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle last night.

Not that I was there. I’m just picking up the vibes from all the posts I’m reading on LinkedIn from people who were there to see Raye win the award for her album This Music May Contain Hope.

Mind you, even if I had been invited, I would still have had to be here writing this. How else would your Friday edition of The Source get to your inbox by 6am?

Going Proper Massive

Last year’s Mercury Prize winner Sam Fender is heading back to St James’ Park for (at least) another two huge homecoming gigs as he prepares to embark on his biggest tour to date.

The North Shields singer-songwriter will play the home of his beloved Newcastle United on Thursday, June 3 and Saturday, June 5, 2027, kicking off a run of stadium shows across the UK and Ireland under the appropriately named Proper Massive Stadium Tour banner.

Dates in Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh, Manchester and London have also been announced… and no-one would be surprised if more aren’t added once tickets go on sale, says Sam Wonfor in Cultured. North East.

City centre of attention

Northumberland Street will welcome competitive runners for the first time in more than 40 years when Newcastle’s HogmanHoway 5K returns on New Year’s Eve. Organisers have unveiled a revised route for the event, which made its debut last December and is doubling its capacity to 3,000 participants.

The return to Northumberland Street revives memories of the Newcastle City Centre 5K races of the early 1980s, which attracted some of Britain’s leading athletes. Among them was Steve Cram, the founder of HogmanHoway 5k, who competed against fellow North East runner Mike McLeod and world record holder Dave Moorcroft in 1984, shortly before the Los Angeles Olympics. McLeod won that race, while Cram finished sixth before going on to claim Olympic silver in the 1,500m.

Cram, who founded HogmanHOWAY 5K, said: “I have very fond memories of racing along Northumberland Street. I don’t think that Mike or I are planning a rerun of our 1984 battle, but I look forward to watching thousands of others enjoy the experience of racing and supporting – it’s going to be a spectacular part of New Year’s Eve in Newcastle.”

More than 1,000 runners have already signed up for the event which will support the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. Entries are available at eventsofthenorth.com.

A quick word

The Tyne Bridge will be completely closed to all vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians for 10 days from today. It will then be closed overnight on weekdays for four weeks to allow scaffolding to be put up. A disciplinary hearing has concluded that the behaviour of a Cleveland police officer who had sex in outdoor places with a female colleague amounted to gross misconduct and that if he was still a serving officer he would have been dismissed. Work is to start next month to replace the steps at Marsden Bay in South Shields which were closed off last December after an inspection found safety concerns. The £600,000 project is expected to be completed by spring. All 46 of the new Metro trains have completed their thousands of hours of testing meaning the fleet is fully operational two months ahead of the target deadline agreed with Swiss manufacturer Stadler. Sunderland University has received planning permission to erect security fencing around the now closed National Glass Centre after several attempted break-ins. This is not the place for weather forecasts but things are expected to get a bit windy across the whole of the North East tomorrow night and Sunday. A yellow weather warning has been issued with gusts of 55-65mph expected - rising to up to 80mph on the coast. The Ivy is preparing to open its first restaurants in the North East with The Ivy Newcastle Brasserie and The Ivy Asia Newcastle both opening their doors in the former Lloyds Bank building in Grey Street later this year. It will be the first time they have launched both restaurant concepts together in one city at the same time. The Source is independent and politically neutral (as well as being North East biased!) but council workers in Darlington started putting up Christmas decorations yesterday. We’re taking a stance on this one. No. Just no! Northumberland podcast Nature Garden has been shortlisted for Best Regional Podcast at the 2026 Independent Podcast Awards. Covering Northumbrian wildlife, gardening, heritage and dialect, it has regularly appeared in the UK Top 20 and US Top 100 gardening and leisure charts and has reached listeners in 127 countries.

‘We go again’

Middlesbrough failed to make the shortlist to be named UK City of Culture 2029 with judges selecting Blackpool, Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Wrexham to fight it out.

Mayor Chris Cooke said working on the bid had galvanised people across the town and “laid the foundations for the next chapter”. Middlesbrough Council announced a programme of events in 2030 to celebrate its 200th birthday and build on its City of Culture bid.

“We’re rolling up our sleeves to go again,” said Cooke. “We’ll celebrate our history, show off the talent that is going to help us thrive in the future, and give our people another reason to feel proud of Middlesbrough.”

Hot ticket event

Talking of Middlesbrough talent, Bob Mortimer and Steph McGovern are joining forces for a special evening in their hometown next month. The event, hosted by Waterstones, will see Bob in conversation with Steph, who of course is fresh from her starring role in the launch of The Source last month (I’ve got news for you - 15.09.26).

Tickets for the evening at the Town Hall on Wednesday November 18 only went on sale a week ago. Not only are they all sold out but they’ve had to close the waiting list with more than 1,000 names on it. The pair are also appearing at the Central Hall Westminster in London on Monday the 16th.

Keeping up with the Joneses

Could you be the next Bridget Jones – or at least come up with something (or someone) just as comical? A new prize to find distinctive new comedy writing voices from the north of England has been announced to mark the 40^th anniversary of The Independent, the newspaper where Bridget Jones’s Diary began appearing in 1995.

It is to be judged by Bridget Jones creator Helen Fielding along with representatives from her agents, Aitken Alexander Associates, and Newcastle-based New Writing North which is managing the competition. There’s £2,000 for the funniest piece of first-person prose that is under 1,000 words - the length of the original diaries. David Whetstone has more here.

New homes wanted

It’s Adoptober apparently, which means the RSPCA is looking for new homes for animals it cares for. Not just cats, although the Felledge Animal Centre in Chester-le-Street has been taking in an average of 13 cats every month - including the four cuties above - and is running out of space. Can you help?

Business bites

Flutter, which owns brands including Paddy Power, Betfair, Sky Bet and Sunderland-founded Tombola, is planning to make 1,400 roles redundant, blaming the rise in betting and gaming duties announced in last year’s Budget. It is thought that fewer than 100 of Tombola’s 800 staff in Sunderland will be affected. Baby products brand Nuby is investing £5.7m after choosing Gateshead as its new European headquarters. The relocation to a 115,000 sq ft facility in Birtley will support future growth across finance, supply, product and marketing functions. Brothers Jack and Tom Atha have spent more than £1m to buy Commerce House, the former Kalinka nightclub site, and land on Wood Street with the ambition to create “one of the most exciting places to work in central Middlesbrough”. Since establishing Atha Developments in 2011, the brothers have built a £16m private property portfolio. The North East had two winners at the British Chambers of Commerce Business Awards 2026. Osbit won the Future of Work award with Care Messenger Holdings coming out top in the Digital Revolution category. Marketing expert Lisa Eaton, the founder of Fabric, has announced two senior additions to her team. Investor Simon Moyle joins as Chair and James Tilley has taken up a new role as Chief Commercial Officer. The pair worked together at Vivup (now Perkbox), where they were instrumental in growing annual recurring revenue from £8m to £80m in five years. PD Ports has launched a multimillion-pound marine facility on the banks of the River Tees. Chief executive Paul Foreman said: “It is an investment in our Marine team, but importantly it is also an investment in the river and the wider economy it serves.” Consett-based Amethyst Homes has submitted plans to build 46 homes on disused land adjacent to Tynemouth Station

1984 Grandstand break

In a break from the usual nostalgic TV ad break, this week I’ve a clip from the BBC’s sports programme Grandstand. We have already mentioned the Newcastle City Centre 5k race in 1984. Here’s how Grandstand covered the event. It’s 20 minutes long but includes some great close ups of the big crowd and some long-gone city centre businesses, with the commentator informing us that Mike McLeod (No 3 above) had become a travel agent and passed his own place of work six times on his way to victory.

THE WIDER VIEW

The facial clues to heart disease

Traditional Chinese medicine teaches that the tongue and face can reveal clues about the heart. Now, researchers in China have used artificial intelligence to explore whether there is something to this idea.

In a small test, an AI system analysing photographs of people’s faces and tongues correctly identified all 40 patients with coronary heart disease, suggesting that a simple photographic scan could one day help flag people who need further heart checks. The approach could offer a quick, cheap and painless way to identify people at risk.

Forgotten - but memorable

This month marks the 680th anniversary of a fierce, bloody and brief battle fought near Durham that you’ve probably never heard of.

Unlike Agincourt, it was not immortalised by Shakespeare. Unlike Bannockburn, national identities have not coalesced around it. The battle has not been featured by film-makers. It has faded from popular memory in the long and bloody history of Anglo-Scottish warfare.

The Battle of Neville’s Cross was over by 5pm but those few hours were of huge international significance and came to shape the relations of England, Scotland and France for years to come.

It’s got everything you need from a medieval skirmish, says Durham University historian Alex Brown – spectacular miscalculations by warring sides, entertaining quotes from onlookers, and the capture of a king and several earls.

We promise you quality stories told by quality storytellers. We have another one for you today, this time from former Guardian columnist Harry Pearson, who has posted an article from Northumberland where he now lives.

What’s he writing about? Here are some clues:

“Powerful shoulders and gleaming black eyes that simmer with the kind of surly menace that would send bosoms heaving in a Gothic bodice ripper”, cutting toenails in bed, “memories of a pub gent’s toilet on a Saturday in 1975, albeit without the bass notes of Brut and yesterday’s cabbage”, Catherine the Great, and being “faithfully polygamous”.

You probably have to be a member of The 1% Club to guess that the answer is sheep. Yes, sheep. You’ll have to read it to believe me - but you won’t regret it.

Also in today’s edition there’s the pioneering Newcastle heart surgeon who you can see on TV tomorrow night receiving a Pride of Britain lifetime achievement award, which he knew about. Then being joined on stage by 19 young people who are still alive thanks to his skills, which he didn’t know about. Barely a dry eye in the room.

And Newcastle College students are still buzzing after hosting Rachel Burden, Nicky Campbell and the BBC Radio 5 Live crew for live broadcasts yesterday morning - and taking part in a Teen Summit.

Brian Aitken
Editor

Words matter

A milestone was reached yesterday - The Source now has 3,000 subscribers. Here’s a graph which shows how our database has grown over the last 180 days - and it’s not difficult to see when our launch event with Steph McGovern (I’ve got news for you) at the Helix was held.

We now need to push on and get to the 4,000 mark. You can help with that - by telling family, friends and colleagues about The Source and how it is a trusted ‘source’ of quality journalism. Independent, politically-neutral but North East biased. And it’s free.

Here are five recent features from our team of contributors that you can share with them - the kind of articles we can produce more of if we can get that graph showing an even steeper upward curve.

SIMON RUSHWORTH sat down with a man who passionately believes North East investments and pension contributions should be used to benefit the region. “Think of it like a giant holdall of North East cash. We drop it off at Newcastle’s Central Station and wave it off to London, never to be seen again.”

Football, whatever a famous manager said, isn’t more important than life and death but it can stir deep emotions. Author Chris Bowlby told DAVID WHETSTONE how it keeps memories of his son alive.

As parents protested about the closure of Durham High School, BOB HUDSON took a closer look and reported that its Chinese owners were not present, not visible and not listening.

For decades, we complained about the region being overlooked. Now travel writers, lifestyle journalists, influencers and property experts are declaring the North East the next UK hotspot. Is it time we shut up about how great we are, asked BETHANY USHER.

Our prisons are overcrowded. And 37% of those who are released end up back inside. CHRIS JACKSON reported on a North East charity where only 3% of the offenders it mentors return to a life of crime.

Plus there’s the weekly Eyes & Ears column that we publish every Friday - my curated round-up of what’s been happening in the region in the past week. It’s things you know, things you didn’t know and things you didn’t know you needed to know.

Free for all - for now

The Source is free for everyone to enjoy but we do have a paid subscription rate of £6.99 a month or £69.99 a year. It’s voluntary - but successful independent media outlets with an operating model similar to ours only make half of their content available for everyone to read.

If we are to have a sustainable future then we may need to consider doing the same. Their experience is that 10% of free subscribers convert to paid - we are running at 4%.

In the meantime, it would be hugely appreciated if you were to upgrade to a paid subscription. Here are comments left by four people who decided to support us with a paid subscription:

“Delighted to support such intelligent, interesting and often amusing reportage. There is no print alternative that comes near for well thought through local reporting” - Fiona Ellis.

“Consistently informative and insightful, providing breadth as well as depth. A joy to read because of the quality of reporting and commentary. It reaffirms journalistic standards that are even more relevant than ever. Keep up this important work” - LJ Hudson.

“Eyes & Ears has been such a useful tool, providing that weekly round-up... now, The Source is a chance at another life for regional media - supported by and operating for the people of the North East” - Arlen Pettitt.

“I support your work because it’s essential for democracy and society to have well-informed independent journalism powered by curiosity, rooted in rich life experience and communicated so well. The reader gets right to the end before they know it. Many thanks for all you do and how you do it!” - Olwyn Hocking.

Surprise for a hero

A pioneering heart surgeon who has saved and transformed the lives of thousands of children has received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards.

Asif Hasan, who retired earlier this year from the Freeman Hospital, has dedicated more than three decades to caring for children with complex heart conditions and helping establish Newcastle as one of the world’s leading centres for paediatric heart surgery and transplantation.

He knew he was getting the award, but didn’t know that backstage there were 19 young people waiting to join him - every one of whom owes their life to a remarkable man who would spend his ‘holidays’ in Pakistan carrying out surgeries and training doctors. You can see this tear-jerking moment when the awards are screened on ITV tomorrow at 8pm.

Among the 19 was Seb Hollingsworth from Whitley Bay. His dad Ivan said on his LinkedIn said: “To be there and witness that moment with other parents, as Seb and his fellow Heart Heroes came together to recognise the extraordinary impact Asif has had on their lives, was something I will never forget.

“What made it even more special for us was that Seb was given the opportunity to say a few words on stage and thank the man who saved his life when he was just 16 weeks old, and again when he was 13.

“Asif’s response to receiving the award was typically understated: ‘I was just doing my job’.”

5 - live in Newcastle

Radio 5 Live was broadcast from Newcastle College yesterday morning with Rachel Burden and Nicky Campbell leading the programmes - something that PR and Comms lead Henry Winter later revealed was in the planning for months.

“I think it’s fair to say this has been the most challenging and rewarding project of my career in PR so far,” he said. “From having our Principal Jon Ridley live on 5 Live Breakfast to helping brief our students ahead of the Teen Summit, there’s been an enormous amount of work behind the scenes. But seeing it all come together and watching our students share their views on national radio made it all worthwhile.”

Sheep

By Harry Pearson

It is tupping season in Northumberland. On moor top and down dale the expectation of romance crackles like static. A friend who farms out by Greenhead says that when the ewes sense the ram is coming the tone of their bleating changes. “It’s a higher pitch, quicker. They’re all of a flutter,” she says. Their tup is a burly Suffolk with a thick head, powerful shoulders and gleaming black eyes that simmer with the kind of surly menace that would send bosoms heaving in a Gothic bodice ripper. His fiery look is more than just posturing, I should add. I once saw him butt a five bar gate in an attempt to get at an inquisitive dog. Off a two pace run up, he hit it so hard it thrummed.

“Afterwards, they do this kind of cooing chatter back and forth,” my friend says, “Like teenage girls mooning over a pop star.”

“Do they never sound a bit let down,” I ask hopefully because to me the tup has the strutting, mean and self-satisfied look of an office bully. “Maybe a palpable sense of anti-climax?”

My friend says not. She says the tup gets taken away before the passion dies and ewes start to notice his irritating habits.

“Like chewing with his mouth full,” I suggest.

My friend looks out of the window to the yard where her husband is standing in the drizzle hitting a blocked drainage pipe with an adjustable wrench. “Or cutting his toenails in bed,” she says.

At Hexham Mart a few days later the air is filled with the pungent scent of lanoline, testosterone and urine. Lanoline, extracted from sheep’s wool, was once a key ingredient in shaving cream. Perhaps that’s why the smell at a day sale of rams calls back memories of a pub gent’s toilet on a Saturday in 1975, albeit without the bass notes of Brut and yesterday’s cabbage. In the show ring a cluster of prize Texel shearling rams are being primped and posed by their owners, big men in XXL polo shirts and feed store jeans held up by leather belts with elaborate buckles. The Texels have black moustaches, flaring nostrils and scowling faces. Their bodies are tubular with muscle. Compared to them my friend’s Suffolk looks vaguely effete - Hugh Grant in a world of Tom Hardys.

The Texels stand four-square with their heads held high and their rear legs spread, their fleeces are the colour of saffron. The first celebrated ram in British agricultural history was a New Leicester bred by Robert Bakewell of Dishley near Loughbrough in the 1780s. He was so famous Catherine the Great sent ministers to study him. Bakewell’s ram was called Two Pounder. The briefest look at a painting of Two Pounder is enough to confirm how he got his name. The Texels, however, are of an even higher calibre than this famous beast – four-pounders at least.

Size, naturally, is not everything. The seasoned expert is also looking for tone. Some ram scrotums look impressive but are padded out with fat. Heavy fat layers overheat the testicles and lower sperm count, the ovine equivalent of wearing tight pants. Farmers tend to fret about fertility more than the rest of the population. At the moment more so than ever. A variant of the insect-born bluetongue virus is ravaging flocks. Over 1,600 farms in England, Scotland and Wales are infected. Bluetongue shuts down sperm production. Around a fifth of rams never recover, the rest will be knocked out of action for upward of three months, missing the one time of the year when they are of any real use to anyone. Already there are fears that the numbers of spring lambs will be drastically reduced nationwide.

Northumberland is so far mercifully free of bluetongue. This has led to a last minute scrabble from infected farms – largely in the south-west - for virile Northern rams. There is chatter about prices spiking. For prize Texels these can be eye-wateringly high. In 2020 a six-month-old ram named Double Diamond sold at auction in Lanark for £367,500.

There’s nothing so head-spinning as that figure at Hexham, but the ruby-cheeked auctioneer’s cudgel-like gavel bobs up and down to a high energy rhythm while his voice calls off the bids at such ascending speed that he sounds like a southern Baptist speaking in tongues. In a blizzard of waves and nods and twitches one shearling ram goes for £7,500, another for £5,500, a third for £3,500.

Robert Bakewell reputedly rented out Two Pounder for 1,200 guineas per season (a staggering sum in an era when the sort of country estate an ambitious Jane Austen heroine might aspire to could be had for £100 a year), but because of bio security rams are no longer hired in the same way. The life of the woolly roaming lothario is over. Instead the tup stays at home with his familiar flock. He is, as my friend remarks, “Faithfully polygamous”.

Just as in the days of Bakewell, the value of a prize ram is based on the improvement his genes can bring to a flock. He is a long-term investment. On average a ram has a career span of about four seasons and in that time will impregnate around 180 ewes. Some of these may turn out to be prize rams, too and the money invested will be easily recouped. While the genetics of stock breeding are better understood today than they were in Bakewell’s time, such investment remains a gamble and diseases like bluetongue lengthen the odds.

For a ram the stakes are even higher. Fertility is all that stands between him and the abattoir. “Our old fella is coming to the end of his run,” my friend says with a note of regret. “Last autumn after he’d serviced all the ewes, he disappeared. When we went looking for him we found him lying flat on his back in a stream, the icy water flowing over his nethers, all four legs stuck straight up in the air. I swear he was snoring”.

Harry Pearson is a former columnist for The Guardian and is a regular contributor to the magazine When Saturday Comes. His book The Far Corner: A Mazy Dribble through North East Football is widely regarded as a cult classic.

If you enjoyed Sheep, then you may want to read some of his earlier contributions for us. His first column was about how dementia was affecting his family (If you didn’t laugh, you’d cry). Then came the weighty funeral instructions he received from his Dad (Ashes to ashes), the missing item that came to dominate his Dad’s mind in his last few months (Poignant mystery of the hunting horn), and his observations from the dementia ward (The York Fruits).

In February, as he prepared to become a grandfather for the first time, he brought us some childbirth stories that bear some relation to the Monty Python Four Yorkshiremen ‘we were so poor’ sketch (Hell and hot water). As the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day landings approached, Harry wrote about his uncle, a reporter with the Evening Gazette in Middlesbrough who joined the RAF but didn’t live to see that historic day (The kindest lie - Eyes & Ears 29.05.26).

You can read any and all by clicking on the underlined link.

“Heartless, dangerous and institutionalised cruelty” is taking place before our very eyes. Hundreds of thousands of parents are struggling to cope with a child who is autistic or has ADHD and are waiting for a diagnosis so that they can receive appropriate care.

The isolation and frustration is something that our columnist Arlen Pettitt knows only too well, as he writes about today.

We also have news of the biggest niche that no one has heard of - despite it being a multi-million pound industry and Sunderland its European hub.

Award-winning documentary maker Jeanie Finlay has returned to her Teesside roots to make a documentary that Tina Brown is describing as the next Mr Bates vs The Post Office. I don’t think Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen will be too happy with it - and having to foot the bill for the Government inquiry into the financial affairs of his own authority won’t help his mood.

A North East council today becomes the first local authority outside of London to introduce a charge for roadworks on busy routes at peak times, and the graffiti artist in Newcastle who made bizarre claims about famous people eating Pukka pies in bed and dabbing Zoflora behind their ears (I’m not making this up) has been arrested.

Mr Rennie vs ?

It’s a David and Goliath story of epic proportions, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Mark Kermode describes it as “a powerful story told with poetry and humour from one of our leading documentary makers”.

They are talking about All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea, a documentary film from award-winning Jeanie Finlay, a Teessider, which features Hartlepool fisherman Stan Rennie’s fight to eliminate the industrial pollution that is decimating the ecosystem of the North East coast - and having a devastating effect on the livelihoods of the fishing community.

Tina Brown, no less, thinks Stan’s story is the next Mr Bates vs The Post Office. The former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker - and the wife of Harold Evans - described the film as “one of the most moving, thrilling and fantastic documentaries I have ever seen”.

The cost of diesel often exceeds what the fishers can earn from their meagre hauls – not least because they are having to take their vessels much farther out to find anything alive. “Can’t sell the boats, can’t give them away. I have three, so I’m proper up to my neck in it,” says one with the kind of gallows humour which is recurrent in the film.

All Rivers Spill Their Stories To The Sea goes on general release on Friday - and it’s definitely being screened at Stockton Arc on Saturday.

Footing the bill

The reason we know the film is showing at Stockton Arc on Saturday is that Leigh Jones of The Teesside Lead, who features in the documentary, is taking part in a Q&A after the screening.

He revealed this information in the Lead’s latest edition which highlighted that the Tees Valley Combined Authority is to foot the bill for its own government inspection - with the total possibly running well into six figures.

Local government minister Jim McMahon said last week (Eyes & Ears 16.10.26) he had “material concerns” about the “long-term financial sustainability” of TVCA and ordered a statutory inquiry, an escalation of powers after the authority was issued with a Best Value Notice in April 2025.

Putting out welcome mat

The 200-strong delegation from The Great North has returned from India. It remains to be seen how successful the trade mission has been, but tourism has been identified as a big opportunity. VisitBritain’s latest forecast shows India is set to become a £1.5 billion inbound visitor market for the UK by 2030, an increase of 71% from 2026.

North East Mayor Kim McGuinness, who chairs The Great North, a mayoral-led collaboration of northern leaders, said: “We want Indian visitors to enjoy everything Britain has, but to travel further, stay longer and experience more. From our great cities and spectacular landscapes to Premier League football, international cricket, castles, culture and coastline, the North has an incredible amount to offer.

“The North East is a place I’m incredibly proud to call home, and our greatest strength is the warmth and hospitality of our people. We’ve experienced that same wonderful welcome in India, and I want us to return it to many more Indian visitors.”

Our ‘secret’ success

It’s been dubbed the biggest niche that no one’s heard of. Tournaments attract millions of players and spectators as well as offering prize money that also runs into the millions. Think football or snooker, but played on a games console or computer.

We’re talking Esports - and Sunderland has just become the European hub for competitive video gaming. A former car showroom opposite the Stadium of Light has been transformed into a multi-million pound arena that matches what already exists in Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

British Esports said it hoped the arena would attract major competitions and visitors, benefitting businesses across the city.

Graffiti artist arrested

Newcastle’s bizarre graffiti artist has been arrested. We have already reported (Eyes & Ears 09.10.26) how slogans painted on walls in the West Denton area of the city went viral. The council stepped in to paint over messages such as ‘Stacey Soloman gives Joe a sticker for helping with the dishes’, ‘Danny Dyer smokes Parma Violet vapes’ and ‘Ross Kemp dabs Zoflora behind his ears’.

The culprit returned with more celebrity comments including ‘Alison Hammond puts all her shopping through self service as loose bananas’, ‘Kate Garraway brushes her hair with a wooden fork from the chippy’ and ‘Susanna Reid eats Pukka pies in bed’.

Northumbria Police said: “We arrested a man on suspicion of criminal damage. In interview the man, aged 33, admitted carrying out the vandalism and he has now been referred for an out of court disposal.”

A quick word

County Durham today becomes the first local authority outside London to charge for roadworks on busy routes at peak times. The council hopes the charges of up to £2,500 per day will encourage organisations to plan roadworks outside of peak travel times, complete them over a shorter period and adopt less disruptive methods. Millionaire’s shortbread from Glenton’s Bakery in Ashington has been handed out to passengers on the Northern Line to mark the number of journeys passing the two million mark since the railway was reopened less than two years ago. Northumberland council leader Glen Sanderson said: “The Northumberland Line has revolutionised not just travel in the area, but opportunities for jobs, education and leisure. We’re now working hard to extend the line northwards to Woodhorn and Newbiggin. “Such has been its success, it has highlighted more than ever the need for extra capacity. The Mayor and I are continuing to stress the urgency to secure more seats on trains as soon as possible.” The people, places and performances that have shaped Sunderland’s musical identity are to be celebrated in a major heritage project. Sunderland Music City has been awarded £156,166 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund for Mackem Music Memories, which will gather the city’s musical stories and preserve them for future generations. Organisers are appealing to people to share their memories, whether they involve an unforgettable concert, a favourite venue or the music that played an important part in their lives. Woodhorn Museum has been named Best Accessible Museum at the Kids in Museums Family Friendly Museum Awards 2026, announced in Birmingham. The awards are decided by families who make undercover visits to shortlisted attractions.Teesside travel agent Libby Gray picked up two top national awards in London. Libby, who leads the team at Hays Travel Teesside Park, was named UK and Ireland Agent of the Year, and Manager of the Year at the prestigious Travel Industry Awards. “We have had customers phone to congratulate me and to book their next holiday. The response from people has been amazing,” she said.

A mystery no more

Daytime viewers of BBC One will get first sight of new crime drama series The Northumbria Mysteries starring Robson Green on Friday.

Those fortunate enough to have joined cast and crew for a preview screening at the Tyneside Cinema will be aware that BBC top brass have been watching closely too.

Dan McGolpin, director of BBC iPlayer and TV Channels, said he had been delighted when Helen Munson, commissioning editor for the North East, said she had a script she wanted to do.

Now that the script, under lead writer Ash Ditta, has become a series (eight episodes, four to be available on iPlayer soon after broadcast) he was “very excited” to see it put before its first audience.

There was also a supportive message (via screen from Salford) from BBC director-general Matt Brittin – another indication that the weight of the Corporation is behind this new investment in North East TV production. David Whetstone has more in Cultured. North East here.

Isolation, frustration, fighting and waiting lists

By Arlen Pettitt

I’m far from the perfect husband, but the one thing I wish I could do - above all other missteps - is go back and be quicker to back my wife Kate when she first noticed our son engaged with the world differently from his peers.

She saw him playing differently, struggling in noisy environments, and having difficulty. What was self-evident to her before he even turned two years old took months for me to accept, and even longer for me to take action about.

I’m not saying this in my own defence, but my sense is that’s a common story.

In my experience men are less likely to talk to other parents about the serious business of their child’s development, and certainly less likely to feel the societal pressure of behavioural expectations. What that meant was, for far too long, Kate felt alone in the battle - ignored by professionals and having to win family and friends over too.

Our son was diagnosed this past summer with Autism and ADHD, a few months after his seventh birthday. We are, by most measures, one of the lucky families - we have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and a place at a specialist school. But, it was still five years of fighting, starting with a year of working out what we were supposed to do, followed by two years of denied referrals, then two years of waiting lists.

In that time, our son has struggled to access an education, seen repeated suspensions across three schools in four years, and we’ve wrestled with things as fundamental as his eating and sleep.

The isolation and frustration of those years is something hundreds of thousands of people are dealing with.

ADHD UK have said just under a million adults and children are currently awaiting an ADHD diagnosis, and a further 300,000 an autism diagnosis. Several NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), including the North East and North Cumbria ICB, have instituted a minimum two year wait, something ADHD UK’s chief executive has called “heartless, dangerous and institutionalised cruelty.”

In fact, even before the news of the minimum wait, in the North East the NHS have outsourced assessments to private providers and there remained a 78 week waiting time, meaning a referral now would mean an assessment sometime around Easter 2028.

For ADHD, where medication is a treatment option, GPs are unable and you must wait for a specialist - often for another six months to a year, according to healthcare improvement champions Healthwatch.

This is the environment in which an independent review of mental health conditions, ADHD and autism has been carried out.

The review, chaired by psychologist Professor Peter Fonagy, published its final report a couple of weeks ago, concluding - in no uncertain terms - that the system is broken.

In his executive summary, Professor Fonagy writes that continuing as we are is not sustainable “for a society paying the human and economic price of failing to support people to participate in family, community, education and working life.”

The review makes some absolutely vital points in the context of healthcare reform. It concludes wait times are unacceptable, that care must be reshaped and include community-based support, and that the current diagnosis-dependent system must end, with needs determining access to support.

It also challenges head on some of the cultural misunderstandings which heighten the isolation of families who are trying to access support.

Firstly, on mental health broadly, Fonagy concludes a rise in cases isn’t over-diagnosis, saying “the rise in mental health problems is real, is affecting everyday functioning and cannot be explained by greater awareness alone.”

Mind have rightly connected this to the false narrative of a ‘snowflake generation’ which is often used to dismiss young people as less resilient, and invalidates the experience of families chasing support.

Second, on ADHD and autism specifically, the evidence shows there has not been an increase in prevalence in the population, just in those presenting looking for support. While population prevalence has remained stable, there has been a 20-fold increase in autism diagnosis recorded for 6-11 year olds since 2000, for example.

The impact is clear, seen in the words of the review in the “distress, impairment, withdrawal, and reduced participation in relationships, education and work”. This issue is clearly linked with the rising challenge of young people not in employment, education or training. Another review, chaired by former minister Alan Milburn, is expected to report on that issue very shortly.

The government has promised a Mental Health Strategy for England by the end of 2026, as part of the delivery of the 10 Year Health Plan, as well as a separate autism strategy.

The review is so clear in its conclusions and recommendations, it’s impossible to ignore. What we need now is action.

Action which provides support quickly, especially in the vital formative years at the beginning of education. Action which tackles the isolation and frustration felt by families dealing with obscure pathways to diagnosis and society’s critical eye. Action which is based on people’s potential, not the challenges they face.

As the North East Autism Society put it “when we put human beings first, ahead of diagnoses or labels, we can create a society that works for everyone.”

Amen to that.

• Arlen Pettitt is a writer and researcher specialising in the politics and policymaking of the North East of England. He is the author of the weekly Wor Room newsletter.

You know that Jeff Brown? Him off the telly? Well, he’s only gone and sent us a missive from Portugal where Sunderland played their first competitive match in a European competition for more than 50 years on Thursday night.

Along the way the former BBC Look North journalist and presenter met loads of people including his old bank manager, an ex-colleague, and his cousin’s son. It’s a lovely insight into a trip that meant so much to so many people.

We’re talking supporters here, and today’s extra edition also includes a story on the Newcastle United-supporting brothers who are about to launch a self-financed platform which will measure the loyalty of football fans.

“Football has always celebrated clubs and players,” said Craig Archer. “We want to celebrate the supporters. Clubs can point to trophies. Players have statistics and medals to measure their success. But despite being the heartbeat of the game for more than 150 years, supporters have never had a lasting way to record or celebrate their loyalty.”

That’s two football stories in one day - but you don’t have to like football, or even know anything about the sport, to appreciate either of them.

We can all understand Jeff’s dilemma when he was looking to book tickets to Portugal and, as the prices on the screen go up before his very eyes, he paid to fly to an airport some 230 miles from where the match was played!

The return journey gave him plenty of time to send us his words and pictures from a trip he feared he would never see.

Have you ever seen a Mackem in the Algarve?

By Jeff Brown

When you’ve had more than half a century to plan a party, not even the finest details should really pose too much of a problem.

This, however, was a football match with three possible venues, hosted by a team unknown to all but the most dedicated followers of the world game. And when they did finally choose where to do battle, it was in a town some 70 miles from the nearest airport.

The problem for around 5,000 Sunderland fans was just how to make the pilgrimage to Leiria, an historic city in the Central Region of Portugal, for the club’s first game in a top European competition since 1973.

They flew from Newcastle, of course. But also from Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds and London, arriving in Lisbon, in Porto or – like me and my old schoolmate Sean and friends Helen, Steve and Janet – 230 miles away in Faro, the capital of the Algarve.

Confession time: as a journalist I should really have checked the facts before pushing the Jet2 “confirmation” button, but the on-screen price was rising in front of my eyes. It’s how they get you.

Sunderland’s opponents for this historic Europa League tie were Portuguese Second Division side SCU Torreense, surprise winners of last season’s Taca da Portugal (the country’s equivalent of the FA Cup) which was the first domestic trophy in the club’s 109-year history.

Home games are usually played at the Stadio Manuel Marques, a ground which holds barely 2,500 spectators. Clearly a non-starter with European football’s governing body, UEFA.

Torreense had sought, and been granted, permission to switch the game to Estadio Algarve, just a few miles north of Faro. Only… they’d had a late change of heart, as their fans complained the ground was too far to travel - and opted instead for Leiria, some 60 miles north of base.

Fortunately, I wasn’t alone. Even greater fortune followed in the shape of exiled Black Cats’ fan Mark Chapman, a veteran of previous pre-season trips to Portugal. Via a fans’ website, he offered to single-handedly organise two coaches and a handful of mini vans to transport around 150 strays on a four-hour trip to the game and back. What a lifesaver.

Come match day, Leiria’s town square was a sea of red and white, mostly fuelled by an ocean of Super Bock beer which heated up as rapidly as the topless lads in the sweltering 26 degree heat.

For those of us of a certain vintage, who had only been bairns when Sunderland’s FA Cup winners of ’73 had briefly trod the European trail, the misty-eyed refrain was a recurring theme: “Never thought I’d see this again in my lifetime…” Certainly not when League One awaydays of only a few short years ago featured trips to towns no more exotic than Morecambe, Rochdale and Accrington Stanley.

As a sports reporter for The Journal, ITV Tyne Tees and BBC Look North over a period of almost 40 years, I’d been privileged to follow Newcastle United and - for two brief, unforgettable seasons – Middlesbrough to Belgrade, to Sofia, to Athens, Rotterdam, Rome and beyond.

For years I’d bored my mates with tales of those magical trips: the thrill of hearing familiar accents and coming across neighbours far away from home, sharing a common bond of being there for the game. It was something I dearly wanted them to experience, but assumed they never would.

As a 12 year-old fan I saw Sunderland’s two home games in their short-lived 1973-74 European Cup Winners’ Cup campaign. Not even the scandalous hike in admission prices from 30p to £2 - more than a week’s pocket money - could keep me from being at their first home game, against the Hungarian side Vasas of Budapest.

The club, incidentally, justified the rise by claiming it was to pay for new floodlights which could accommodate midweek television transmission in colour, rather than bog-standard black and white.

In the decades since, pre and post-match pub talk has occasionally featured the brave boast that: “If we ever get back into Europe – I’ll be there”, never really expecting there’d be a need to keep that promise. Finally, unbelievably, it was time to deliver.

Flights booked, then, transport sorted. How to get into the game itself? Enter an unlikely hero in Torreense vice president Nuno Carvalho.

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With Sunderland requesting an allocation of 4,000, word quickly spread on the internet grapevine that a simple email to Nuno would allow you access to as many tickets as you required.

Torreense’s average home gate is around 1,500. Playing in Leiria’s 24,000-capacity stadium, they weren’t about to let this money-making opportunity slip by. UEFA, it’s understood, is investigating…

And so they came, and unfurled their flags. From Boldon, from Bishop Auckland, from all points across the North East and beyond. One guy’s banner proudly proclaimed: “I quit my job to be here!”

Who did I bump into? So many folk, from so many areas of my life: Andy, a former colleague at Look North; Adam, my cousin’s lad; Barry, for years my bank manager at Lloyd’s in Jarrow and Mez, from Roker Methodist Church Boys’ Brigade. That took me back…

As for the game itself? Like so many Sunderland matches down the years – and you can substitute that for your own team’s name - for much of the night it seemed the fun would end with the first blast of the referee’s whistle.

In a ground resembling an upmarket Gateshead Stadium – albeit with a stunning view of the city’s 12^th Century castle – a much-altered Sunderland side plodded their way painfully through a sluggish first half, enlivened only by an early disallowed goal for the visitors and a wonderful 20-yard strike from Torreense’s Brazilian centre-back Volnei Feltes.

A second half rally saw the Wearsiders’ summer signing Jules Ahoka sneak a header inside the near post for the equaliser, and a host of regulars – Mukiele, Reinildo, Le Fee and skipper Granit Xhaka – left the subs’ bench to lead a late charge.

It seemed they would have to settle for a disappointing draw, when Albanian referee Enea Jorgji overturned a late penalty award after an eternity studying the pitchside VAR screen.

But with only three of the added six minutes remaining, Congolese midfielder Noah Sadiki volleyed home his first goal for the club, with what may well have been his first shot on target in his 15-month Sunderland career.

Cue mayhem, as Sadiki and his team-mates vaulted the advertising hoardings to celebrate with the travelling fans. And pity the handful of harassed stewards, trying to break-up the massed love-in. Ask any football fan - there really is nothing like a late, unexpected winner to transform a tedious game into one which lives long in the memory.

For the red and white diehards, the next stop is Bournemouth tomorrow for a Premier League battle of two stuttering sides. Then it’s on to Poland and Poznan for the latest leg of this European adventure.

That’s not for me. I’m otherwise engaged. But come December you’ll certainly find this Mackem in Milan. Along with, I’m guessing, many thousands more…

Headline news

The Source was launched by Steph McGovern, Simon Rushworth and me at the Helix in Newcastle four weeks ago. Independent, politically neutral but North East biased, it’s a growing media platform that will provide quality stories told by quality storytellers - as today’s edition demonstrates.

There’s more next week. Arlen Pettitt draws on personal experience to write about why it’s time for action on ADHD and autism, Bob Hudson asks what is going on with Local Healthwatch, and Harry Pearson… well, Harry Pearson takes a look at the tupping season in his own inimitable way. It’s highly recommended.

If you value what we do then please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing to our Crowdfunder - set up with specific purpose of hiring a reporter dedicated to public-benefit journalism.

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/the source

Tables turned on fans

By Simon Rushworth

Two brothers with a shared love of Newcastle United have launched the world’s first platform dedicated to measuring, celebrating and documenting the loyalty of football supporters across the globe.

Craig Archer and Ryan Archer-Robinson have self-financed the Football Supporters Index (FSI) — a unique online space that brings together the beating heart of the beautiful game.

And the Magpies-mad siblings insist fans deserve their chance to shine in an era when success and failure in football is increasingly measured in purely financial terms.

“Football has always celebrated clubs and players,” explains Craig, who’s worked in construction all his life and ploughed personal savings into developing FSI. “We want to celebrate the supporters.

“Clubs can point to trophies. Players have statistics and medals to measure their success. But despite being the heartbeat of the game for more than 150 years, supporters have never had a lasting way to record or celebrate their loyalty.

“Unlike traditional social media platforms or football forums, FSI has a single purpose: recognising the people who make football what it is.”

Newcastle United season ticket holders Craig, 45, and Ryan, 27, had talked about ranking supporters for years before joining forces to create FSI.

“Our family weekends are dominated by football and one thing we always come back to is which club has the most loyal supporters,” explained Craig. “There’s nothing to measure that, so we decided to create FSI.”

Ryan added: “I used to travel to loads of the away games during the Rafa Benitez era and the one thing that always used to crop up was who were the best supporters. It’s a conversation football fans have been having for as long as the game’s existed.”

The brothers’ self-financed project started to take shape in April and has the capacity to fully index more than 4,000 clubs from 200-plus countries. Fans are asked to pay a one-off fee of £2.99 to secure a lifetime ‘supporter number’ — the first step towards boosting their chosen club’s ranking.

Additional loyalty points will be awarded to supporters who: submit unique stories linked to their favourite clubs; encourage fellow fans to sign up; and attend fixtures.

Ryan added: “Going to games will guarantee the greatest number of loyalty points. That’s a given. Fans who follow their team home and away can help to propel their club up the global league table. It means a supporter of a lower league club who goes to all of the games can quickly outscore a casual fan of a bigger club.

“FSI isn’t about replacing football traditions — it’s about recognising the supporters who have kept those traditions alive for generations. Players become legends. Clubs make history. We believe supporters deserve a legacy too.”

Craig said: “We’re a very small team — me, my brother and a friend of mine who has developed the website. We’re doing this without any external support and, while that poses its own challenges, we’re very proud that this independent project has its roots in the North East and always will have.

“We want FSI to be the best it can possibly be. We understand football supporters and that is reflected in the website. Every supporter believes their club has the most loyal fans in the world, but until now there has never been a way to prove it!”

Craig and Ryan built FSI with legendary former Newcastle and England manager Sir Bobby Robson in mind. “We designed the site around the exact philosophy Sir Bobby famously championed,” added Ryan. “He always said that a club is defined by its passion and its people, not its corporate balance sheets.”

FSI — featuring the world’s first Global Football Supporters League table — encourages fans to connect with like-minded football communities worldwide. During phase two of FSI’s development, an interactive Global Fan Map will reveal the extent of clubs’ support far beyond their traditional heartlands.

“We want FSI to be more than a website,” added Craig. “The platform also aims to become one of the world’s richest sources of insight into football supporter culture by helping fans build detailed supporter profiles. We’ll be documenting everything from favourite football shirts and matchday traditions to supporter journeys and lifelong football memories.”

www.footballsupportersindex.com

Concerns about the financial sustainability of the Tees Valley Combined Authority have seen the Government order a statutory inquiry. It doesn’t sound like good news - but it’s something the authority says it welcomes.

On Tyneside there are plans for two more Tyne bridges as a draft Strategic Regeneration Framework (masterplan!) is announced for the area formerly known as NewcastleGateshead.

There’s a damning diagnosis for Berwick’s planned new hospital, the number of arrests following the A66 crash in Teesside which killed two police officers now stands at 50 and a balaclava ban in County Durham has moved a step closer.

Today is Restart A Heart Day and the ambulance service brings us a lovely story from a college where 200 students are going to be trained in CPR and receive inspiration from a lecturer whose life was saved after suffering a cardiac arrest at work earlier this year.

A council is having to divert manpower to clear dangerous waste that has been piled on a park in the middle of a housing estate, Dominic Cummings is coming to Newcastle to talk about what’s gone wrong in British politics, there’s a top European award for Kynren, and a Newcastle restaurant has been crowned Champion of Champions.

A lot going on - but you can read it all in two minutes or 22. It’s up to you.

Brian Aitken
Editor

Investigation escalation

Local government minister Jim McMahon said he had “material concerns” about the “long-term financial sustainability” of the Tees Valley Combined Authority and has ordered a statutory inquiry.

The move reflects concern in Whitehall about governance and value for money, according to the FT, and is an escalation of powers after the authority, led by Conservative mayor Ben Houchen, was issued with a Best Value Notice (BVN) in April 2025

TVCA said it welcomed the investigation which will be led by the former head of West Midlands Combined Authority Laura Shoaf. She will work with three assistant inspectors to look at TVCA’s compliance with the notice.

McMahon said he was worried about TVCA’s financial affairs due to its high levels of debt, increasing borrowing and interest costs, as well as its declining revenue reserves. The Teesside Lead has more on that here.

Private Eye took to social media yesterday to say: “Eye Told You So”. They also reminded people about their special report Stripped Tees which you can read in all its glory by clicking here.

More Tyne bridges

The wraps have been taken off a masterplan with the potential to see Tyneside become a “nationally recognised regeneration success story in the decades to come,” according to Newcastle council leader Colin Ferguson.

The draft Strategic Regeneration Framework (masterplan sounds better, don’t you think?) to revamp the centres of Newcastle and Gateshead is due to be debated over the coming weeks.

Proposals include two new footbridges across the Tyne, 16,000 new homes, and a range of transport improvements. This could involve the building of a Gateshead East train station near Gateshead College, upgrades to Gateshead Interchange and Manors Metro, potential river transport, and a Scotswood Line high-level linear park that could act as a pedestrian and cyclist route running west out of Newcastle city centre.

Damning diagnosis

The new Berwick Community Hospital will need to be stripped back to its structural steelwork after inspections found building work carried out so far was not up to standard.

Contractors Robertson, who came in after Merit went into administration, have been working with Northumbria Healthcare to determine what is needed for the scheme to progress. It has now been decided that much of the work done, including internal systems such as mechanical and electrical systems, pipework and internal walls as well as the external façade will need to be removed and replaced.

It is not known how much the extra work will cost and NHS bosses have told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it is likely to impact on their wider capital funds and could require additional support from NHS England or the Department for Health.

Safety in numbers

North Durham MP Luke Akehurst hosted a parliamentary debate on police funding in the North East this week - Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria have 578 fewer officers than they did in 2010. This has led to public safety deteriorating, he said, with the North East having higher crime rates than other areas but lower police funding.

He highlighted a meeting he had with the Just For Women group in Stanley and pupils from St Bede’s School in Lanchester, which outlined how women did not feel safe in their own communities.

“In our discussion, the group highlighted their public safety concerns, recalling that they no longer feel safe walking home at night. They were clear that rather than simply catching perpetrators when awful crimes happen, our priority should be to prevent harm in the first place.”

50 arrests after crash

The wider police operation that began after two police officers and five young men died in a head-on-crash on the A66 in Teesside in August has resulted in 50 arrests so far. Shotguns, hand guns, machetes and ammunition have been seized, as well as £60,000 worth of class A and B drugs and more than £30,000 in cash.

Detective Chief Superintendent Helen Barker of Cleveland Police, said: “Over the last two months, we have identified 50 people who we believe are associated within criminal networks that seek to cause serious violence and harm within the community through the supply of drugs.”

She thanked the community for their support and patience. “I want to encourage you to keep on reporting behaviour that is related to drugs or organised crime - no matter how small - and be assured we will act.”

Balaclava ban takes step forward

Durham County Council’s Cabinet has approved a consultation on new measures to tackle anti-social behaviour including a ban on balaclavas. Councillor Stephen Bowron, chair of the Safer and Stronger Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee, said that police and council staff were “inundated” with behaviour problems in town centres.

Danger tips removed

Waste, including gas canisters, paint and medical equipment, was piled on a playing field in the middle of a Birtley housing estate over the space of a week. Gateshead Council believes some of the waste had been dumped by criminals and a “minority of residents” ahead of Bonfire Night.

The council’s service director for environment Michael Lamb said: “This is not stuff you can just burn, we’ve got sofas, washing machines, gas bottles, aerosol canisters, you name it. From a public safety view, we cannot allow this to be burnt, the fumes, potential explosions, it needs to be removed and it will cost thousands.”

Blyth blow

Port of Tyne boss Martin Lawlor said he is disappointed in the Government’s decision not to fund the £55m Blyth Relief Road but said he would keep lobbying because of its importance in growing the town as a green energy hub.

Lifesaving skills

Today is Restart A Heart Day, an event that takes on added significance at Newcastle College where health lecturer Karen Pyle, 53, had her life saved earlier this year by friend and colleague Jessica Beni after suffering a cardiac arrest at work.

Karen will share her story today as more than 200 students will be equipped with the skills and confidence to deliver CPR and how to use a defibrillator by the North East Ambulance Service.

Karen said: “I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. It is scary to think about doing CPR and I don’t think you will ever be prepared for what happens. But being somewhere when it happens and not knowing what to do is scary too. The more people trained, the more lives that can be saved.”

Fringe benefits - and more

It seems rather fitting that this year’s Mercury Prize Fringe is getting underway just as the North East Mayor’s Events Fund opens for a second round of applications, with £6m available over the next two years to grow the region’s events calendar.

To the fringe first. It was a huge success last year and this year promises to be much bigger and better. Full details on the Generator website here.

Now to the events fund. Grants from £10,000 to £500,000 will be awarded to new or existing events with growth potential that showcase a distinctive North East identity, attract audiences, generate economic and community benefits, and support local participation.

Mayor Kim McGuinness said: “This fund is creating more chances for local artists and creators to grow, more opportunities for local people to take part and try something new, and more reasons to feel proud of this amazing region we all live in.

Expressions of interest can be submitted until November 26, with successful applicants supported to build a business case for funding.

Tax change pauses project

An £8.4m manufacturing project that could support more than 500 jobs has been paused over inheritance tax changes that are due to come into effect in April.

Trustee Paul Stiller, of Newton Aycliffe-based Stiller Warehousing & Distribution, said the Stiller Small Self-Administered Scheme (SSAS) had planned to invest in a 200,000 sq ft factory but halted the project over uncertainty about bringing unused pension funds, including SSAS assets, into inheritance tax.

“The new Chancellor needs to understand why this ill-advised tax change could have much wider consequences for investment, growth and jobs,” he said. “SSAS pensions have existed for more than 50 years and have become an important source of patient capital for Britain’s owner-managed businesses. They invest in factories, commercial property and growing companies. The prospect of losing 40% of the remaining value of these assets to inheritance tax is inevitably changing investment behaviour now.”

Four get share of £41m

A total of 74 heritage and faith buildings including churches, synagogues, town halls and castles will share £41m from the Places of Worship Renewal Fund and the Heritage at Risk Capital Fund. The North East recipients are Shildon Railway Institute, 8 & 9 Church Street, Hartlepool; St Nicholas Cathedral in Newcastle and the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady and St Columba in Wallsend.

A quick word

Middlesbrough was the only one of the 12 North East council areas to record a decline in population during the 12 months from mid-2024 to mid-2025. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the number of residents fell by 1.2% to152,795. What’s gone wrong with British politics and what to do? is the title of a lecture to be given by Dominic Cummings at the Curtis Auditorium, Newcastle University, on Tuesday as part of the university’s INSIGHTS series. Tickets are free - but I think they’ve all been snapped up. A Cleveland police officer who featured in two series of Police Interceptors on Channel 5 is to face an accelerated misconduct hearing next week over various allegations including that he had sex with a female colleague in public, “knowing and intending that there be a risk of being caught”. Newcastle’s My Delhi has been named the Champion of Champions at the 2026 Asian Restaurant and Takeaway Awards. The restaurant, which has opened branches in Sunderland and Leicester and recently acquired Itihaas in Birmingham, had already been named North East Restaurant of the Year in the regional finals. North Tyneside Council’s school budget deficit is projected to hit £14m - with the recently-closed Monkseaton High School contributing around £8.6m to the figure. An auction of 96 Peter Rabbit sculptures, which formed a trail during the summer, raised £300,000 for St Oswalds Hospice. The figure beat the previous total raised by a Shaun The Sheep trail three years ago by £100,000. The players and staff at Gateshead FC have been paid their delayed wages for September after a takeover by US investment company Flacks Group. A 29-year-old man was arrested near Preston in connection with an illegal waste dump at Callerton near Newcastle Airport in a joint operation involving Lancashire Police and the Environment Agency. A little tern colony at Seaton Carew has experienced its toughest breeding season since establishing themselves at the site in 2019. The colony’s 83 nesting pairs produced just 17 fledglings, compared to 67 in 2025.

Plenty for 20

Twenty local creatives have been awarded a share of £78,000 to bring new arts and cultural projects to communities across County Durham. The funding is awarded through the 2026-27 Cultivate Commissions, a partnership between Into the Light and Northern Heartlands.

The commissions which span a variety of work from theatre and ceramics to music, dance and visual arts and are worth almost £4,000 each. You can see the full list of recipients here.

Top of the world

Ingleby Barwick teenager Harison Skelton, who balanced studies at Middlesbrough College with international competition, has been crowned motorcycle trials world champion. Harison, 18, has travelled across Europe to represent Great Britain in competitive races and secured the 2026 Trial3 World Championship in Zelhem at the TrialGP of the Netherlands.

He successfully completed his BTEC in electrical engineering last year and has since been working alongside his cousin renovating homes and buildings across the region.

Kynren’s top award

Kynren – The Storied Lands, which opened in Bishop Auckland in July this year, was named Top New Attraction at the 25th annual Parksmania Awards ceremony at Movieland Park near Verona, placing it alongside some of Europe’s most celebrated visitor attractions. Previous recipients include Disneyland Paris, Europa Park and Parc Astérix.

Business bites

The North East Chamber of Commerce has launched a new best practice guide aimed at helping employers deliver greater social and economic benefits through procurement, employment and community engagement. The chamber convened four stakeholder workshops which led to the establishment of its Social Value Working Group, co-chaired by public affairs manager Chris Kelsey and Esh Group director of corporate affairs and social value Darush Dodds. Newcastle business services and technology company Everything Managed Group, which has experienced massive growth since launching five years ago, is looking to create 120 jobs over the next three years. East Durham College has been named an approved skills delivery partner in the £250m regional skills programme which helps adults retrain, change careers and access new employment opportunities. Aykley Developments has announced a £50m plan to redevelop the AA’s former regional HQ on Newcastle Business Park. The proposal involves 151 one and two-bed homes, hospitality, social, retail and co-working space. A swimming pool, spa, gym, meeting rooms, podcast and art studios, cinema room, golf simulator and padel courts are also planned. NEPO, one of the UK’s leading public sector procurement organisations, has been named the region’s SME Apprenticeship Employer of the Year 2026 at the National Apprenticeship Awards. Eurowings is bringing back its twice-weekly service between Newcastle International Airport and Berlin from April to October 2027. The flights will be every Monday and Friday with one-way fares starting at £79.99. The Tees Valley Mayoral Authority has agreed plans for a Digital and Creative Enterprise and Innovation Hub in Middlesbrough and a Creative Production Hub in Hartlepool as part of the £160m Investment Zone capital programme. Hebburn-based Cottam Brush has been shortlisted in the Innovation of the Year category at the Made in Britain Impact Awards 2026 for its patent-pending SPLITGRIP roller brush system. Tioxide Materials has committed to adding dozens of staff to its Greatham site near Hartlepool. The workforce will increase to nearly 270 in the coming weeks and to more than 300 by 2027. The company restarted production in August after taking over the factory previously operated by Venator Materials UK.

2003 ad break

There are now so many new readers of The Source that I forget many of you won’t have seen some of the classic TV ads I have featured in previous Friday editions. Well, the good thing about nostalgia is that it can’t go out of date.

Here is a repeat of the ad that has attracted more views than any I have featured so far. It’s the full-length two-minute chain reaction built entirely from Honda Accord parts - a high-tech version of watching dominoes topple over. A transmission bearing starts it rolling, and it ends with a complete Accord rolling off a trailer. “Isn’t it nice when things just work”? says the voiceover.

It is called Cog and was first broadcast on April 6 2003, during ITV’s coverage of the Brazilian Grand Prix. In the next 24 hours Honda’s UK website had more traffic than all but one UK car brand’s site got in the whole month.

THE WIDER VIEW

Making it pay

Two years after Jim Waterson took redundancy from The Guardian to try his hand at reinventing local journalism, things are going rather well. He told Press Gazette his Substack-based title London Centric now has 5,500 paying subscribers and has an editorial team of three focused on publishing two or three really good stories per week.

“It turns out that if you delight people with big investigations and scoops that tell them something they didn’t know about the city they live in, they’re willing to pay, and they’re not willing to pay for generic empty coverage where they can feel that effort wasn’t put into it,” he said.

Source of inspiration

I confess there was an ulterior motive in bringing you news of the success of London Centric. Along with the growth of the Mill Media titles - who recently received £100,000 from the Postcode Lottery to fund subscriptions for under-25s - it shows the opportunity that exists in the North East for The Source.

Steph McGovern, Simon Rushworth and I hosted a successful launch event at the Helix in Newcastle a few weeks ago. Steph announced she would be investing in The Source - but we now need more support to emulate what is happening in London, Manchester and in other cities such as Sheffield, Liverpool and Glasgow.

There are many ways to demonstrate that support. It could be through SEIS investment, sponsorship, advertising, partnership, donating to our Crowdfunder to hire a reporter specialising in public-benefit journalism, or upgrading your subscription to paid. It all helps - and there’s more detail in the ‘We’ve started: what now?’ link below.

Trust your Sources

Without wishing to labour a point, The Source is independent, politically neutral but North East biased - and a trusted source (!) of news and information.

Trusted. That is becoming a rarity in this age of social media misinformation, bots, fake news, clickbait, and the spin and lack of journalistic rigour behind so many national media stories.

Take this story. How do you turn data showing Brits hold 80% of jobs into ‘Foreigners took 4 out of 5 new jobs’? Well, you pass the data through a right-wing think tank and spit it out in right-wing media headlines, says Emma Monks in her Substack column Monks Debunks.

I’m not going to go into the detail here. Monks does a very good job in her column which highlights that the Mail headline above is a close relation to a story published by the Express in May which said ‘27 young foreign workers hired for every one Brit as immigration fuels employment crisis’.

Both articles follow research from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a centre-right think tank founded by Iain Duncan Smith and Tim Montgomerie in 2004. “In fact, they tortured the same data set to get the same sort of misleading research headline,” said Monks.

Hard-to-spot clarifications and corrections can follow but the damage is already done by headlines based on what Monk describes as “fundamentally flawed assumptions”.

In this instance you had:

• Migrants taking four in five new jobs in UK, says Centre for Social Justice (Telegraph)

• ‘Four out of five new jobs went to foreigners in the past decade,’ report finds (LBC)

• Four in five new jobs in Britain taken by migrants, damning report finds (GB News)

• Fury as four out of five new UK jobs created over past decade taken by foreign workers rather than British citizens (The Sun)

• Foreigners take 80% of all new UK jobs – Britons ‘written off’ (Express)

Today, we have a follow-up column on the capacity equation: technological capacity is accelerating, human capacity needs expansion, and economic expansion depends on both.

“Saving time is not the same as creating value,” says columnist Anni Hood. “There is a paradox inside those saved hours and productivity gains. When AI takes on the routine tasks, what is left is the hard work: judgement, ambiguity, decisions and relationships.”

Meanwhile, Simon Rushworth reports from Sunderland Business Week where “there’s such a buzz about the place”. And you can understand why.

We also cover the announcement of a 10-year North East strategy to create 10,000 jobs in the creative, cultural and sporting sectors. Before we get too excited, this does not appear to be a “new” announcement - more a pulling together of funding we already knew was happening.

And then there’s the NEETs - such a horrible acronym. The North East has the highest rate of 16 to 24-year-olds who are not in employment, education or training in the country.

The man who is leading the review into this national crisis was brought up in the West End of Newcastle and is a former Darlington MP. Alan Milburn is confident the Government will “put its hand in its pocket” to solve the issue.

10 years, 10,000 jobs

A 10-year strategy to create 10,000 jobs in the North East’s cultural and sporting industries has been announced by the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority.

Mayor Kim McGuinness said she wants to make it easier for talented young people to pursue careers in the arts without having to leave home. “For too long, talented people have had to look to the capital for good careers, and we’re changing that, creating opportunities for local people, here in the region,” she said.

The 2026-2036 Culture, Creative Industries, Heritage and Sport Strategic Framework describes how the North East MSA will use its powers, investment and influence to grow culture, creative industries, heritage and sport over the next 10 years, rallying partners across the North East behind these shared goals.

There isn’t any new money behind this announcement, as far as I can see. The strategy is underpinned by £104m of investment in the sector, announced earlier in the year, which already includes:

• The North East Mayor’s Small Venues Fund launched in June, announcing £2.2m to support arts, culture and music venues across the region.

• The Mayor’s £11m Events Fund, enabling events throughout the summer, including BBC Radio One’s Big Weekend, Newcastle Pride and Durham Book Festival.

• £38m Crown Works Studios development, which has passed another important milestone, with planning approved by Sunderland Council.

Help - if you can

I’m biased, but I know The Source is great. Quality journalism. Independent, politically-neutral and North East-biased. What’s not to like?

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Spend and save

Former health secretary Alan Milburn is leading the Government’s review into the issue of 16 to 24-year-olds who are not in employment, education or training (NEET). Latest Government figures put the NEET rate in the region at just under 20% - the highest rate in the country, affecting around 60,000 people.

The former Darlington MP, who grew up in Benwell in Newcastle’s West End, was at St James’ Park on Friday for the launch of a new commitment from the Premier League to support more than 250,000 at-risk children and teenagers over the next five years.

The funding will enable more than 100 football club charities, such as the Newcastle United Foundation, to work with schools and employers to identify young people in need of support and give them the skills and connections they need to avoid becoming disengaged.

The second part of Milburn’s review is reported to have been pushed back until after this month’s Budget. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that discussions were being held with Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Chancellor John Healey and that the issue “will be fully resolved in the Spending Review”.

He said: “They are not daft and they realise this is going to require the Government to put its hand in its pocket, because it has to. But the prize is that if we can get young people into work we can get them off welfare.”

A quick word

National League side Gateshead FC has been taken over by US-based private investment company Flacks Group. It is expected that one of the first things to happen will be players and staff receiving their September wages. A company spokesperson said: “Gateshead FC has a tremendous history and we look forward to moving the club forward and to see it realise its true potential.” STACK Leisure has shelved plans to open food, drink and entertainment venues in Whitley Bay and Durham. The company blamed the “difficult” decision on unforeseen development costs, slow planning and legal processes, infrastructure demands and wider pressures on the hospitality and leisure industries. Labour MP Mary Kelly Foy said the decision showed a “total disregard for the people in Durham”. The second of two men who chopped down the Sycamore Gap tree has been released from prison. Daniel Graham, 41, from Cumbria, was sentenced to four years and three months for causing criminal damage to the famous tree beside Hadrian’s Wall

Sunderland: Building big and getting better

By Simon Rushworth

The message was clear as the city’s impressive Culture House played host to business leaders from across the North East: Sunderland is a springboard for growth during a new age of opportunity on Wearside.

On day two of Sunderland Business Week, Northstar Ventures hosted a bullish panel discussion hosted by tech expert — and contributor to The Source — Jamie Hardesty.

The Director of Ecosystem Development at Sunderland Software was joined by James Widmer (CEO and founder of Advanced Electric Machines), Jon Leighton (MD and founder of Land Digital) and Naomi Allen Seales (Investment Manager at Northstar Ventures).

And if all four pointed to a series of familiar challenges still faced by those willing to join the Wearside revolution — skills gaps, a fragile manufacturing chain and distance from the capital — then there was a collective insistence that Sunderland is better placed than ever to realise its potential and power the regional economy like never before.

“There’s a real sense of collaboration and, as a city, Sunderland is so ambitious right now,” said Naomi. Northstar manages the £16m Venture Sunderland Fund and supports businesses looking to secure funding and scale. “Sunderland University has introduced business clinics and knowledge transfer partnerships and the City Council is very forward thinking,” she added. “There’s so much here to help early stage founders and business leaders.”

James revealed Washington-based AEM aims to use its magnet-free motor technology to build 100 million electric vehicles per year by the 2040s but he admitted: “We can’t do it alone and we operate within a very supportive community. I know so many talented people in Sunderland and the surrounding area who really understand what businesses like AEM need.

“We moved to Washington in 2019 but even then we felt we needed to put people up in Newcastle when they came over to visit. Now they stay in Sunderland — a city that’s thriving in every respect. Every time I come here there’s a new building that’s popped up and there’s such a buzz about the place.”

Jon — like James — moved Land Digital south of the Tyne after recognising Sunderland’s potential as an ambitious base for growing businesses. He told the Culture House audience: “A lot more people are talking about Sunderland and more people want to live and work in Sunderland.

“It’s about the lifestyle as well as the business benefits. When Land Digital first moved here there was a choice of German Doner Kebab or McDonald’s for lunch! Now we’re surrounded by amazing places to eat. The city’s become a more desirable place to be.”

Both AEM and Land Digital have been supported by the Venture Sunderland Fund and Naomi is keen to bolster more businesses across Wearside. “We’re not naïve enough to ignore just how big a deal it is for a founder to bring an investor in,” she told the Building Big In Sunderland event. “People who have built up their own businesses are naturally concerned about diluting control.

“From our point of view it’s about reassuring those founders and ensuring everyone’s on the same page. We’re all on the same team. Together we’re focused on executing a plan. Of course there’s an extra layer of governance and expectation but I like to think that can be a positive for ambitious businesses looking to grow. And Sunderland is a place where that can happen.”

• Sunderland Business Week continues until Friday with events across the city. Visit sbweek.co.uk for details.

Be wise with water

Reservoir levels across the region remain below average following a dry September and Northumbrian Water is encouraging everyone to keep using water wisely.

The national picture is even worse. Five successive heatwaves and the warmest summer on record have left millions living in drought conditions. Last Friday, Yorkshire became the latest area to declare a drought, joining all of central, southern and eastern England in drought status- and there are fears that the situation may not change until next Spring.

Research from the Environment Agency showed the country will need above-average rainfall throughout both autumn and winter for most areas to be out of drought by April 2027.

Miriam Glendell, a hydrologist and director at the Centre of Expertise for Waters told The i Paper that many households must expect to experience a drought every year.

“It’s not unusual any more to be in a drought. The spring and autumn months can become as dry as midsummer and now water resources fail to always replenish in the winter,” she said. “Water scarcity is a big risk to people and we need to do our best to save water and use it wisely, whether it’s in the household or more widely across the public and private sectors.”

The Capacity Equation

by Anni Hood

The North East has answered the first question about AI, almost every business owner is now using it. In the Entrepreneurs’ Forum’s latest Pulse Survey, 97% of the 113 entrepreneurs who took part use AI in some form, and 89% of those report a measurable benefit - as reported in The Source last week (Headstones, headlines and the business of AI). A third are saving up to five hours a week, and nearly one in four report gains worth more than 50 hours. Twenty-seven per cent now have AI embedded across several business functions, up eight points since May.

Those are excellent regional confidence indicators, the next question is a different one.

As we exponentially increase technological capacity, how do we ensure human capacity increases alongside it?

The hours are the easy part

Saving time is not the same as creating value. Boston Consulting Group’s 2026 AI at Work study surveyed around 12,000 employees. It found that 42% of regular AI users save at least a working day each week. Yet two-thirds get little or no guidance on how to use that time, and more than half don’t put it into more strategic work.

AI frees up capacity, but it doesn’t decide where that capacity goes. People do. And people can only redirect what they have the energy, clarity and confidence to redirect.

This is why BCG’s best-known finding matters. Its 10-20-70 principle says a successful AI transformation puts 10% of the effort into algorithms, 20% into technology and data, and 70% into people and processes. Most organisations do the reverse, and BCG’s value research shows the result. Their latest research shows progress, but substantial value remains concentrated among a small minority; Just 7.5% of companies surveyed qualify as BCG’s most AI-mature organisations, generating substantial value from AI.

Jon Dudgeon, co-founder of accountancy firm Blu Sky, bucks the trend BCG describes. He has mapped and carefully curated the integration of AI technology and agents throughout his 30-strong team as a consciously controlled osmosis. He described his handle on that employee behavioural change curve: “Critical thinking, initiative and softer skills are more important than ever. We run sentiment analysis through our email systems that allows us to be aware, in real time, of any bandwidth pressures being felt, either by the team or our clients. This, alongside engagement and fulfilment surveys and an open comms policy, means we see any bumps nice and early and smooth them out.”

The work is getting lighter, and heavier

There is a paradox inside these saved hours and productivity gains. When AI takes on the routine tasks, what is left is the harder work: judgement, ambiguity, decisions and relationships. Blusky have taken this in their stride. In BCG’s study, 67% of employees say AI has moved them towards more complex work, and 60% say performance standards have risen. Some 48% of leaders report more mental strain, 72% say the skills expected of them have changed, but only 36% feel they have been properly upskilled.

So the hours saved on routine tasks are quietly being spent on harder ones, with more mental load, faster decisions required and rising expectations. Unless capacity is deliberately expanded it is being used up. That can easily become an initially invisible depletion. Without awareness it shows up as disengagement, poor decisions, sickness absence and people leaving.

Why this matters more in the North East

Poised potential is considerable. The North East AI Growth Zone at Cambois brings a £10 billion data centre commitment and could support up to 5,000 high-quality jobs. There are also plans to train 80,000 students in digital and AI skills by 2029 including primary school provision.

But the region also starts from a more fragile human baseline. Earlier this year, 25.1% of working-age adults were economically inactive. That is the highest rate in England and more than four points above the UK average. Almost a third of them are out of work because of long-term health conditions. The Northern Health Science Alliance estimates that better mental health alone could add £6.6 billion to the North East economy. And BDO’s latest mid-market tracker found that 38% of North East businesses see AI and technological change as their biggest challenge, with a quarter unsure what skills they will need.

Put simply, major investment in AI infrastructure is planned for the North East, while the region already faces significant barriers to workforce participation.

John McCabe, chief executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce, describes the risk well: “AI has enormous potential to boost UK productivity, create new, more and better jobs and open up new opportunities. However, technology alone does not create sustainable economic growth. We need to invest in people alongside investment in AI – building the skills, confidence and capacity to make the most of this technology. If we fail to do that, we risk leaving people behind and missing out on the full economic potential of the AI revolution.”

Three capacities, one economy

The equation is simple to state.

Technological capacity is accelerating.
Human capacity needs expansion.
Economic capacity depends on both.

No business keeps growing on technology alone. Every gain from AI still has to pass through a person. Someone has to ask the right question, challenge the output, make the call, hold the client relationship and lead the team through change. If that person is depleted, the return on every pound spent on technology falls with them.

It’s why the next phase of AI adoption is less a technology decision, more a human one. Lucy Batley, owner of Mankind AI agrees: “AI adoption fails when organisations treat human behaviour as an implementation detail.”

What leaders can do now

First, treat human readiness as an investment, not a discretionary cost. If BCG is right that 70% of the value sits with people and processes, the budget should reflect it.

Second, decide where the saved time goes. Hours freed by AI should be directed on purpose: towards customers, creativity, development and recovery. Otherwise they simply fill up with more of the same work.

Third, invest in what AI can’t do. Jon Dudgeon names the skills directly; kindness, fun, judgement, creativity and the ability to work comfortably with the technology. These are human capacities. They grow when they are developed and protected, and they erode when they are not.

Fourth, measure capacity, not just output. Productivity figures will tell you what AI has made faster. They won’t tell you whether your people have the energy, clarity and resilience to keep up.

The question for every board

Entrepreneurs’ Forum CEO Elaine Stroud is right, the next question for entrepreneurs is what AI means “for the people and skills they will need in future.” I would go one step further:

As AI accelerates technological capacity, what are we doing to protect and expand human capacity, and what is the economic consequence if we don’t?

The North East has shown it is ready to adopt AI. It also has the chance to show how to make the gains last, by becoming the place that grows its people as deliberately as it grows its economy.

• Anni Hood is a human systems and infrastructure architect. As founder of Well Intelligence, she provides consultancy insight and business modelling that deliver framework and protocols, via the AstralMandala welltech platform, for de-risking human capital.

And finally…

For sale on Reich Move, according to the post I saw on social media.

You may not even be aware of the existence of the North East Regional Economic Crime Coordination Centre which operates across the Northumbria, Cleveland and Durham forces.

The Source’s Simon Rushworth spent a day with their officers during Freshers Week - because students are considered susceptible to becoming ‘money mules’, a gateway offence that is then used by organised crime gangs to entrap vulnerable young people.

Some 200 people are in India right now on a mission to attract inward investment and jobs. North East Mayor Kim McGuinness is playing a leading role. She is also playing a leading role in a series of videos which sees her walk fom County Durham to the Borders while talking to North East personalities along the way.

Council housing is on the political agenda again. Everyone’s favourite architect, George Clarke, is all in favour: “My council house allowed my family to put down roots and become part of a community. It gave us the breathing space to work, study, save, plan for the future and get on with their lives. It’s in total contrast to the stigma which exists around council housing these days.”

United mission

Nearly 200 people from the North of England are in India right now. There are mayors and senior figures from business, academia, tourism, culture and sport.

It is the first trade mission to India since a Free Trade Agreement came into effect between our two countries - and the first time the North of England has joined forces to promote itself on the global stage.

You could question whether it takes 200 people to do that. I’m sure many people will. But there is an upside, said to be between £450m-£700m, as the The Great North - a mayoral-led partnership set up in May 2025 to scale-up devolution opportunities - seeks to secure new investment, jobs and increased visitor numbers.

North East mayor Kim McGuinness is the Chair of The Great North. She said: “We’re not waiting for the benefits to come to us. We’re taking the North’s leading businesses, universities, sports clubs and visitor destinations to India to win investment, open doors for our businesses, bring more visitors to the North and build relationships that can last for generations.

“From clean energy and advanced manufacturing to life sciences, technology and our creative industries, the North has world-class strengths and a compelling offer to India. When the North comes together, we are mighty - and we’re excited to showcase the best of our regions on the global stage, to help bring jobs, prosperity and opportunity back home.”

Gloomy forecast

One Northern mayor who is not part of the delegation is Ben Houchen who told Northern Agenda there was “no empirical data” to justify spending taxpayers’ money on him making the trip.

The Tees Valley mayor is rather pessimistic about our short-term economic future, given this report from ITV’s Tom Sheldrick, from the Tory Party conference in Birmingham.

“I honestly believe we’re moving into one of the darkest periods we’ve seen in this country over the last 30 years,” said Houchen. “And I think it’s going to start in the coming months and we’re going to have to do what we can to help people in our community who are going to suffer.

“We’re going to have to try and support business through that very difficult time period, and hopefully we’ll come out of the other side stronger. But the short and medium term does not look positive.”

Talk the walk

Kim McGuinness may be in India right now but you can still see her on YouTube thanks to the release of a docu-series called Coastal Walks With Kim, where she travels the 140-mile coastline from Crimdon Dene in County Durham to the Scottish border while talking to some interesting people along the way.

Part one sees the mayor talk with former Dragon Sara Davies. The second episode is now live. It features jeans, sunglasses, Barbour jackets and ‘history gossip’ Katie Kennedy.

Charities feel the pain

The soaring cost of diesel is having a huge impact on some North East charities. Newcastle-based Daft as a Brush, which provides cancer patients with free transport to and from hospital appointments, said it was paying £15,000 a month on diesel - £5,000 more than last year.

The charity said it could no longer afford to upgrade its 30 diesel vehicles to electric because of the inflated pump prices.

In Middlesbrough, Teesside Minibus Hire director Billy Johnson said they often signed multi-year contracts with schools and businesses which were based on the cost of fuel when they were written. “We’re not running at a loss yet,” he said .”But we’re running close it to it not being worthwhile or sustainable.”

A quick word

Northumbria police and crime commissioner Susan Dungworth has demanded guarantees of long-term funding for measures such as the Bigg Market’s Safe Haven van after Newcastle City Council scrapped its late night levy on bars and clubs. Deloitte has been fined more than £6m by the industry watchdog over its audits of North East-based transport firm Go-Ahead. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said it found a “highly concerning pattern of failure” in the audits over a five-year period. The Business Improvement Districts in Newcastle and Sunderland jointly hosted the two-day 2026 Big Cities Conference last week, allowing delegates to visit regeneration projects across the region. Sewell Advisory chief executive Emma Bolton has been named Woman of the Year in the professional services category at the Inspiring Women in Property Awards.

Prevent, pursue, protect and prepare

People across the North East are falling victim to increasingly elaborate online scams that ruin lives and decimate businesses. Simon Rushworth spent time with members of the North East Regional Economic Crime Coordination Centre to find out how our police forces are tackling the UK’s £220bn fraud problem.

Free pizzas, fun games, new friends and… online fraud. Welcome to the fresh face of Freshers Fairs.

If it’s snazzy pens and water bottles that pique the interest of the wide-eyed first years strolling past the Stop! Think Fraud stand, prominently positioned at Northumbria University’s Welcome Week, then the bigger picture is to educate and enable. An astonishing 66% of so-called ‘money mule’ activity involves people aged 18-25 in full-time education.

“Days like today are about raising awareness and preventing young people from becoming criminals,” explains PC Brian Collins of the Regional Economic Crime Coordination Centre (RECCC). “Being a so-called money mule isn’t just about carrying stuff through customs anymore — accepting a big bag of cash or a stash of drugs and trying to get it from A to B. That does still happen but today’s money mules are more likely to operate online.

“They’ll be drawn in by what appears to be an opportunity to make easy money from home. It goes like this: an intermediary will approach you online, often via social media, and ask you to hold an amount of money in your account. Let’s say £10,000. They’ll then send some bank details and, a few days later, ask you to forward on that money and suggest you keep £100 for yourself.

“For various reasons students are incredibly susceptible to this type of fraudulent activity. They become money mules and, in some cases, that gateway offence is then used by organised crime gangs to entrap these vulnerable young people.”

The RECCC sits within the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit Network (ROCU) and Brian’s remit is wide-ranging. Following 20 years as a frontline officer and a spell working within an intelligence unit, he was keen to join the fight against economic fraud.

“The North East’s ROCU is made up of the Northumbria, Durham and Cleveland police forces,” adds Brian. “I’m a Northumbria cop but I cover the whole region. Within the unit there are many, many different departments but we do what it says on the tin and seek to disrupt and deal with organised crime.

“Unfortunately, our criminals don’t like to stick to borders. Those based in Newcastle don’t just operate within the Northumbria force area — they cross into Durham and Cleveland and even further afield. And they’re involved in financial crime, drugs, human trafficking and more.”

As he chats to the new intake of Northumbria undergraduates, Brian can point to countless examples of students duped into becoming money mules for organised crime gangs without having any conception of the pain and misery their mysterious contacts’ financial activity might cause.

“In the majority of cases the money these young people are holding is from the very worst of criminality,” he explains. “The students we speak to are, on the whole, no worse than naïve. They don’t realise that they’ve committed a criminal offence simply by holding that money, let alone understand that those funds are connected to human trafficking, child sexual exploitation or even terrorism.

“Part of my role is to offer safeguarding because there have been cases where students have become mixed up with the wrong people, beyond that initial online contact. What we do find is that the young people of today actually have stronger morals than my generation and the generations before that.

“When we highlight what their activity is connected to, most of them are disgusted with themselves and want nothing more to do with it. Our job is to educate and to get them to step away before they become entrapped.

“And if they have made the wrong decisions based on a gambling addiction or, maybe, mental health issues, then we’ll find the right organisations to support their recovery.”

Brian is the co-author of the 2025 report Money Muling and Economic Crime Activity at UK Universities and is a passionate advocate for working alongside higher education institutions in a bid to stamp out student exploitation.

However, he is focused on tackling the full gamut of economic crime and regularly criss-crosses the North East warning of the threat to individuals and businesses from increasingly convincing online fraudsters.

Brian and colleague Andy Hampson help to collate and distribute the Monthly Threat Update newsletter — a comprehensive overview of economic and cyber crime trends within the region. And the pair are constantly visiting businesses and community groups on a mission to raise awareness of fraudulent activity at every level.

“Our work aligns with the four pillars approach to policing,” adds Brian.” It’s a strategic framework originally adapted from counter-terrorism and now applied to serious and organised crime, domestic abuse and broader community policing.”

The four Ps stand for ‘prevent’, ‘pursue’, ‘protect’ and ‘prepare’ and Brian adds: “The protect side of it is focused on putting key information in the right hands — in our case ensuring that there’s a greater awareness of the types of economic crimes out there and the impacts they can cause.”

According to latest figures, 50% of all reported crime in the UK is related to fraud. However, a recent National Crime Agency report revealed that 86% of fraud is not reported.

“Just think about that,” adds Brian. “Fraud already makes up 50% of recorded crime in this country but that’s just the 14 per cent being reported! That’s why we will never stop talking about an issue that affects everyone, everywhere.

“We speak to everybody and anybody. We’ll talk to those deemed to be traditionally vulnerable to online crime — the trusting pensioner who takes calls from convincing criminals phishing for financial details — and to big businesses who remain exposed to complex hacks stemming from international organised crime gangs.

“The majority of those affected by the UK’s £220bn fraud problem are private sector firms and, in the current climate, 90% of all fraud is digitally based. Even so, there is still a distinct lack of awareness around online security.

“Economic crimes appear in various ways, shapes and forms but there’s a common trait: it’s basically someone telling a lie to obtain something or cause a loss. And contrary to popular belief, that loss does not actually have to happen. You can’t attempt a fraud and get away with it. In British law, as soon as the message is sent out — or the lie is told — the offence has taken place.”

Back at Northumbria University’s bustling Welcome Week there’s a steady stream of students readily entering their email addresses into Brian and Andy’s touchscreen monitor in an attempt to discover whether those accounts have been associated with any historic global leaks of key information.

“I was a victim of online fraud back home,” explains Isabella Chisica, a Northumbria University law student from Bogota, Columbia. “It’s so important that the police are here talking to us. I know economic crimes are a big problem but a lot of my fellow students don’t.

“In Colombia this is not an unusual situation. There’s a website where you can record an online attack or a fraud and the banks and cellphone companies can access the information immediately. There’s credit available for victims of the crimes.

“With the advances in AI it’s more and more difficult to spot the scammers. It’s a global problem and it’s only getting worse.”

Isabella’s classmate, Canadian Olivia Siemicki, concurs. She insists she’d never fall for the money mule scam — it carries a maximum 14-year jail sentence in the UK — but fears others will be less cautious. “If a stranger asked me to deposit £10,000 in my bank account then it would definitely raise alarm bells,” she says. “I hope people of my generation wouldn’t fall for that.

“But I do have police connections in Canada and online fraud’s a hot topic right now. I also work with the senior community — educating them about phishing schemes and giving away personal information on the phone is hugely important.”

For second-year economics and finance student Kyle De Klerk, from Manchester, the work that Brian, Andy and colleagues are doing to raise awareness around fraud has never been more needed. “It’s been great to meet them and hear about what they’re doing to make students safer,” he adds.

“The booklets they’re giving out paint the full picture. I think I’m reasonably aware of how to look after myself online but there’s information about what to do when you receive scam calls and texts. I’ve been inundated with them lately.

“My friends and I are fairly tech savvy but I do worry about older generations. I know a couple of people my age who have had their Instagram accounts hacked and then the scammers send messages to their family, who then trust those messages. That can lead to money changing hands and worse.”

Financial crime expert Professor Nicholas Ryder explains: “Fraud is the funding mechanism of choice for organised crime and terrorist groups, who rely on laundering their money or using alternative banking methods to avoid police.”

And when it comes to those ‘alternative banking methods’, Brian urges serious caution. “Cryptocurrency is used by the organised crime gangs because it’s hard to trace and it’s unregulated,” he adds. “We should be looking more at cryptocurrency’s links to economic crimes. It’s not illegal but it’s not controlled. If you have money tied up in crypto — or you are offered payment via crypto — be very, very careful to make all of the relevant checks and balances.”

Brian and Andy insist there is no stereotype when it comes to victims of fraud. However, a feeling of embarrassment and even shame is common to the majority of those who have lost money to seasoned scammers. “It’s only natural,” adds Brian. “But whether you’ve willingly sent money to a criminal or been caught out as part of a wider scheme there’s no reason to be ashamed. We hear it all the time — ‘how could I be so stupid?’.

“We don’t accept that kind of talk. First and foremost you’re a victim of crime. The criminals are very organised. They’re very systematic.

“They have access to incredibly advanced technology and, in the current climate, they utilise artificial intelligence. They know how to socially engineer their potential victims and know how to catch someone off guard.

“That’s what you’re dealing with. You’re not stupid. You’re simply a victim of a crime.”

Ensuring the conversation around economic crimes is no longer taboo is just one of the reasons Brian, Andy and the RECCC team are relentless in their mission to spread the word.

“Signing up for our newsletter is easy,” adds Brian. “There’s a little bit about what we do and we try to create a community feel. There are hints and tips and the latest information about what threats are facing the North East. What are we seeing? What are the current trends?”

On campus the prevailing mood is one of optimism — the students who talk to The Source are adamant they can spot a scam a mile off. Nevertheless, economic crimes, including money muling, are still on the rise and it is estimated that thousands of students across the UK will have been the subject of unsolicited approaches relating to finance — by text, via social media or in person — during September.

So what’s the solution? “There’s no quick fix,” admits Brian. “As a global society we need to change our thinking around economic fraud. We need to take responsibility for using our devices and our phones and all the rest of it. We need to learn what to do, to mitigate the threat of fraud.

“Of course, it’s easier for some people than others. I appreciate that. That’s hopefully where my job comes in. I’m trying to educate people before they fall victim to organised crime.”

• To sign up for the Monthly Threat Update newsletter email RECCC@durham.police.uk. To report fraud call 0300 123 2040 or forward fraudulent emails to report@phishing.gov.uk

Homes not units

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has promised to build more council houses. You won’t get any arguments from Sunderland’s own George Clarke, judging by his opinion column in The i Paper.

“I grew up in a council house in 1970s Washington and I loved it,” he said. “We rode our BMXs around, played football on the field, got into a bit of trouble and spent our lives outside with our mates. I didn’t grow up thinking there was anything shameful about living in a council house.

“So I get frustrated when we talk about social housing as though it’s some kind of consolation prize. I also hate it when people talk about housing in terms of ‘units’. They’re not units. They’re homes. Places where children will grow up, where people will fall in love, argue, celebrate birthdays, grieve, work and grow old.

“Washington New Town was designed. Architects, planners, landscape architects and engineers thought about the homes, but they also thought about the spaces between them, where children would play, how people would walk to school and how communities might actually work. There was beautiful landscaping, with trees and shrubs all around. There were young families like us nearby, and schools a 15-minute walk away. I don’t know anyone who got driven to school, because the route didn’t involve crossing any roads, thanks to the many pedestrianised areas.

“My council house allowed my family to put down roots and become part of a community. It gave us the breathing space to work, study, save, plan for the future and get on with their lives. It’s in total contrast to the stigma which exists around council housing these days.

“There is no way I’d be the person and the architect I am today if I hadn’t spent my childhood on the council estate that I did. My mam still lives in that council house I grew up in. Every time I think about it, I’m reminded that the places we build can have consequences that last for generations. Get them wrong and people live with those mistakes for decades. Get them right, and they can give a child the security and confidence to imagine a future beyond their own front door.”

A warm welcome to our new readers. It’s great that so many of you have signed up since we launched The Source three weeks ago.

Let me briefly explain what to expect.

The Source is a new online newspaper for the region. Independent, politically neutral but North East biased. It’s at the fledgling stage but will grow with the support of more people like you. It will be sent to you every Monday and Friday at 6am.

Eyes & Ears is my curated round-up of what’s been happening in the region in the past week - a one-stop shop for busy people who want to know what’s going on but don’t always have the time to watch the news, read the papers or log on to a news website.

I read everything so you don’t have to.

It has been published on Substack every Friday morning for the best part of two years. I try to keep things concise, with the occasional touch of levity. In nearly every article, no matter how brief, there will be a few words underscored which means you can click on them to read more - if you want to that is. This can be a two-minute read or a twenty two-minute read. It’s your choice.

Over time, I have added a section called The Wider View which can be anything that has caught my eye and I thought may be of interest to you. Sometimes amusing, sometimes sad, serious, interesting, or political.

Between the Business bites section and The Wider View, I introduced an ad break. Not just any old ad break, but a TV ad from the past. A glorious burst of nostalgia. We’ve already done the classic Guinness and Levi ones and the gorilla playing the drums, but I’m always finding more classics.

Having said that, there isn’t one this week - the spot has been taken by a two-minute clip from the launch of The Source where Steph McGovern, who is investing in this business, says some unscripted nice things about me and what I do, and basically justifies your very wise decision in subscribing to this publication.

In addition to being the new home of Eyes & Ears, The Source will deliver regionally unique public-benefit journalism, informed opinion and some quality stories on the people and places that make the North East such a great place to live.

As for today, there’s balaclavas, Borderlands and bizarre graffiti; transport funding and an apprenticeship pilot in Tees Valley; Tyne Tunnel and Tyne Bridge closures; the opening of Super Brad’s Pad; a possible Jarrow Crusade legacy; and how to keep your marbles.

Brian Aitken
Editor

Borderline success

The 10-year Borderlands Growth Deal, designed to boost the economic fortunes of the five council areas either side of the England-Scotland border, is at the half-way stage. Only three projects in England are complete, and the deal has been criticised for delays and bureaucratic setbacks.

The Scottish and Westminster governments agreed to spend £452m on projects which would create employment, improve transport and digital connectivity, and increase jobs in tourism and green energy.

Those who hoped the funding would unlock major infrastructure schemes like dualling the A1 and the A69 or extending the Borders Railway to Carlisle will have been disappointed. Just one of those infrastructure schemes would have swallowed the entire budget, reports BBC political reporter Helen Richardson.

Smaller projects were chosen instead. Northumberland has enjoyed more success than Cumbria. Two out of three major projects part-funded by the Borderlands deal are already open, including the Lilidorei playpark at the Alnwick Garden, and the Ad Gefrin distillery in Wooler.

Alnwick is getting £2m of funding through the Place Programme for regeneration projects, including reopening Northumberland Hall as the new home of the Bailiffgate museum.

Scott Dickinson, the leader of the Labour group on Northumberland County Council, said the delays have been frustrating and communities in places like Newbiggin and Prudhoe are still waiting for things that were promised. “Over a million pounds worth of administrative costs gets spent every year, and people aren’t seeing the value of projects because nothing’s happening in some places,” he said.

But Northumberland council leader Glen Sanderson, a Borderlands board member, said he believed the deal was “making a great deal of difference” and “there will be more to enjoy”.

£1.3bn transport plan

Tees Valley Combined Authority has agreed to submit a £1.3bn transport and infrastructure package to Government. The funding, worth about £24m for each of the region’s five councils, would support transport and connectivity improvements linked to the recently agreed 10-year Local Growth Plan.

Councillor Steve Harker, TVCA cabinet member for transport and infrastructure, said Government support was essential to deliver the region’s ambitions. “This is a wide-ranging and vitally important transport delivery plan for the whole of Tees Valley. It is crucial people understand that, while we are a devolved body, major transport schemes often require significant additional funding.

“Government backing for our plans is vital because it will allow external bodies to help fund our programme, giving us the best chance of delivering as many projects as possible in good time across the region.”

Balaclavas: face the music

Monday’s edition (Headstones, headlines and the business of AI) carried reports of trouble in Newcastle and Hartlepool caused by the anti-social behaviour of large groups of young people.

Now Durham County Council is considering implementing Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) in Bishop Auckland, Chester-le-Street, Consett, Durham City, Peterlee, Seaham and Stanley.

The measure would give police and council officers powers to issue on-the-spot fines or remove people from an area for problems including intimidating behaviour, alcohol and substance misuse and nuisance electric bikes and scooters.

The Reform-led authority said proposals would include measures against wearing face coverings such as balaclavas “to conceal a person’s identity while committing anti-social behaviour.”

Monday’s edition also included a more detailed look at what was behind the figures of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum’s survey on the increasing use of AI in the workplace. We have a follow-up question this coming Monday: As we increase technological capacity, how do we ensure human capacity increases alongside it?

Suspension lifted

The Greens are the second largest party on Newcastle City Council after reinstating Councillor Mohammed Suleman who was suspended after reposting an anti-semitic video on social media. Reform are not happy.

Confirming that the suspension had been lifted, a Green spokesperson said Suleman “is regretful, knows he has been in the wrong, and that the posts he unknowingly shared were anti-semitic”. His reinstatement came just two days after delegates at the Greens party conference passed a motion labelling Zionism as racism.

Mental health concerns

Responding to mental health crises will be the fastest growing challenge for the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) over the next decade. It has produced a series of documents predicting health needs over the next 10 years, along with general principles on how it will respond to such “major changes”.

The service forecasts respiratory disease, cardiac conditions, stroke, gastrointestinal illness and mental health crisis care would continue to be the top reasons ambulance staff were called - but mental health would be its “fastest-growing clinical demand”.

Tunnel defects found

Significant “safety and operational defects” have been discovered at the Tyne Pedestrian and Cyclist Tunnels. A spokesperson for the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority said the two vertical lifts were closed after a survey identified several issues requiring repair.

The issues leave the two inclined lifts as the public’s only means of accessing the tunnels while an £87,000 repair scheme is carried out - but they will be closed for scheduled servicing on October 13, 14, 20 and 21 when a replacement shuttle bus will operate between Jarrow and Howdon from 8am to 4pm.

Legacy call for jobs

A plaque was unveiled outside the former A&P shipyard at Hebburn to mark the 90th anniversary of the Jarrow Crusade - with business and political leaders saying that creating jobs would be the most fitting way to remember the legacy of the marchers.

The yard was taken over earlier this year by Cornish firm Balaena, chaired by former North East MEP Alan Donnelly, who comes from South Tyneside. He has already talked to Andy Burnham and Chancellor John Healey about the “new age of industrialisation”.

Jarrow and Gateshead East MP Kate Osborne who unveiled the plaque with Donnelly, said: “I’m absolutely confident that some of the money that John Healey has talked about will be coming right here to Hebburn.” You can watch ITV Tyne Tees’ three-minute report by clicking here.

Underground heating

A mine water heating system in County Durham has gone live, supplying heat to around 50 homes in Seaham Garden Village. The ultra-low carbon district heat network will eventually supply 750 properties in the complex. The council is exploring whether similar schemes could be set up elsewhere.

Brad’s pad opens

The £1.2m Super Brad’s Pad, a five-bedroom house in Scarborough designed to give children with complex medical needs and disabilities the chance to enjoy a holiday with their loved ones, has been officially opened by former Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe.

The holiday home was built in memory of Bradley Lowery from Blackhall Colliery, in County Durham. He was six when he died from a rare form of cancer called neuroblastoma in 2017 and had built up a close relationship with the footballer during his illness.

Mum Gemma said: “Bradley always loved looking after people and if he knew that he was still looking after people now, he would be really happy. My little boy made such an impression on the world and to be able to continue that as his mam, in his name, is a very honourable moment.”

A quick word

Darlington chef Ruth Hansom, who owns Hansom Restaurant in Bedale, North Yorkshire, has won the title of National Chef of the Year at the final in London. Runner up was Scott John-Hodgson, executive chef at Solstice and House of Tides in Newcastle. Howaymanay is returning to Newcastle for a second year. There will be live music, entertainment, and food and drink on the Quayside in the build up to a midnight fireworks display to celebrate the New Year. Tickets cost £8 plus a booking fee. Northumberland County Council is considering cutting transport funding for pupils who attend faith schools outside of their local area as it looks to make savings from the £26m school transport budget. The Labour Party in South Shields is urging the Government to intervene and save the 10 council-run Stanley’s Daycare Centres which are due to close at the end of next July. Newcastle City Council will light up both the Tyne Bridge and the Civic Centre on October 16 to support Show Racism the Red Card’s annual Wear Red Day. This comes after Sunderland and Gateshead councils withdrew their support for the charity. North Tyneside councillor Tom Bailey, who left Labour after a row over him being pictured with a replica gun on social media, has joined the Greens. Also on North Tyneside, Brian Smith, the leader of the opposition Reform group has left the party and will sit as an Independent. The Tyne Bridge is to close for 10 days from October 23 to allow scaffolding to be erected ahead of work on the bridge’s main steel arch. The closure, which also affects pedestrians and cyclists, has been timed to include the October half-term. Sunderland City Council has taken steps which could result in the owners of the National Glass Centre, Sunderland University, having to apply for planning permission to demolish the building. Proposals by the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust to move the frailty unit at Bishop Auckland Hospital to Darlington Memorial Hospital has come under fire from campaigners, unions and councillors. The Teesside Charity’s annual ball in the grand marquee at Hardwick Hall raised a record £89,000. Harriet Spalding, chair of trustees, said: “Last year, we distributed around £80,000 through the Hardship Fund, so to have raised £89,000 in one night is quite remarkable.” Sunderland lass and 6 Music presenter Lauren Laverne has been announced as the host when the Mercury Prize award ceremony returns to the Utilita Arena in Newcastle on October 22.

Three nights to go

Luxmuralis is back at Durham Cathedral for its fifth consecutive annual light and sound installation. Better hurry if you want to see it. It started on Wednesday and finishes on Sunday. It’s called Time and the immersive experience is inspired by HG Wells’ The Time Machine.

Nurdle tests

Research is being carried out at the Dove Marine Laboratory in Cullercoats to find out how the massive nurdle spillage at Port of Tyne this summer has affected the coastal sea bird populations.

The research was prompted over concerns birds could starve if they confuse the nurdles for food and fill their stomachs. And charities have warned the plastic pellets could enter the wider food chain, affecting fish, seals and dolphins.

Pollution - from 1980

The “strong smelling substance” discovered at Blyth beach in August has been confirmed as creosote which is thought to have come from a former timber treatment works which closed around 1980. The Port of Blyth has appointed specialist consultants to decide what should happen next. The limits on both land access and bathing in the area, north of the Dave Stephens Centre, are still in place.

Charity’s £250k boost

A £249,579 grant will strengthen the Tyne Rivers Trust’s mission to protect and restore rivers across the Tyne catchment. The backing from the National Lottery Heritage Fund will support Foundations for the Future, an 18-month programme focused on building the people, systems and organisational infrastructure needed to increase the body’s long-term impact.

Rivers across the Tyne catchment face pressures including pollution, habitat loss, invasive species, declining wildlife and the impacts of climate change. The recent plastic nurdles spill has also highlighted the vulnerability of the region’s rivers and estuaries. Tony Henderson has more in Cultured. North East.

Striking move by QTS

QTS, the company building one of Europe’s largest AI data centre campuses at Cambois in Northumberland, has announced a £140,000 donation to the Alan Shearer Foundation.

The grant follows the foundation’s launch in August of Move A Mile, a fundraising challenge to raise £1m for a second hydrotherapy pool at the charity’s Newcastle centre. “This is a huge boost for the foundation and for the people who rely on the centre’s services,” said Shearer. “Everything we do here is provided free of charge, and this level of support gives us the confidence to plan ahead and reach more families.”

Graffiti goes viral

‘Stacey Soloman gives Joe a sticker for helping with the dishes’, ‘Danny Dyer smokes Parma Violet vapes’ and ‘Ross Kemp dabs Zoflora behind his ears’ - just three of the bizarre graffiti messages that have gone viral after being painted in an underpass and on walls around the West Denton area of Newcastle.

Councillor Peter Lovatt said: “It is a form of criminal damage and a recordable offence. Anyone responsible for vandalising property could face police action. The council has a zero-tolerance approach to offensive graffiti and will always act swiftly to remove it.”

1,000 years of volunteering

Northumberland National Park is celebrating its 70th anniversary year by honouring volunteers who have given more than 1,000 years of support to the park. Among those honoured at a special event at The Sill were father and son Brian and Graham Atkins, who began volunteering in 1969 when Graham was 12 years old. “It’s my county and my heritage and I wanted to get involved. It’s been a passion,” said Graham.

Apprenticeship pilot

Tees Valley has been selected as one of the first mayoral strategic authorities to pilot the Apprenticeship Brokerage scheme, a £9.4m investment aimed at creating 1,500 additional job opportunities across the region. Support will particularly target those not in education, employment or training, while helping small and medium-sized businesses tackle skills shortages and reach a wider pool of candidates.

Levy scrapped

The late night levy on Newcastle’s pubs, bars and clubs was scrapped with immediate effect at a meeting of Newcastle City Council on Wednesday. Council leader Colin Ferguson said the tax had placed an “unfair burden” on businesses.

Business bites

The British Business Bank is to provide £57m to five Northern Innovation Clusters including £12m to the North East. The investment is expected to accelerate the growth of companies in sectors such as clean energy, advanced manufacturing, digital and technologies, life sciences, and professional and business services. There’s just four days to go… the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority is looking for a new Chair of its Business Advisory Council, someone with the “experience, energy and regional perspective to bring businesses together and influence the big decisions”. Applications close at 5pm on Tuesday. NE1 had a record-breaking summer, adding an estimated £4m to Newcastle’s economy. Rachel Fenwick, head of marketing and events, said: “From Screen on the Green and Newcastle Restaurant Week to Dog on the Tyne, the Quayside Carnival and the Newcastle Dragon Boat Race, the city’s streets have come alive.” Sunderland-based wealth management firm Fairstone has completed the acquisition of Sussex firm Foundation Financial Planning. North East-based RMT Technology is to launch a new cyber security division. The specialist technology arm of RMT Accountants & Business Advisors is expecting to create eight jobs in the coming year and around 50 over the next five years.

Middlesbrough College and Lingfield Education Trust have signed a memorandum of understanding to give primary pupils across the region more opportunities to explore future careers. Jonny Catto, managing director of iPac Packaging Innovations, has been included in the LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders for 2026. Also on the list is Peter Moody of GAP Group North East. Brims Construction has posted an operating profit of £4.8m and a record turnover of £70m, an increase of 9% on the previous year. Gateshead-based Aspire Technology Solutions has expanded into the North West by acquiring Warrington company Sentis Managed Solutions which has more than 80 customers across the region. There’s been a record number of entries for The Dynamites Awards 2026, organised by technology membership organisation Dynamo North East, which will take place at Newcastle Civic Centre on November 12. Deputy Avril Gibson is to take over as Chair of Bernicia from John Holmes who has been in post for nine years. A £3m Northumberland Economic Infrastructure Programme has been announced by the council aimed at unlocking projects to deliver new commercial premises and infrastructure. It is hoped that trade and investment links between Tees Valley and Saudi Arabia will be strengthened following a visit from the UK’s ambassador Stephen Hitchen.

2026 ad break

I warned you at the beginning that this week’s ad break was different. Here is a clip (thanks to the students of Gateshead College) from our media event we held at The Catalyst in Newcastle. It features Steph McGovern explaining why she values The Source - and is investing in it.

“A lot of the stories I do on the show, (The Rest Is Money podcast with Robert Peston) a lot of the anecdotes, I get from Brian. There are so many interesting things going on here that I want to tell nationally and it’s amazing what following your writing and your work with the team has led to for me with my work.

“I know I can read your stuff and then I’m up to date with what is going on in the area in a way that is way more intellectually stimulating and way more thoughtful.”

I mentioned being independent and politically neutral at the beginning of today’s edition. That seems even more important now after reading what Reform UK plans to do with some of the £72m it received from just two donors earlier this year - as award-winning investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr points out in this tweet…

The Source has launched a Crowdfunder with the specific purpose of recruiting a reporter who will specialise in public-benefit journalism. You can contribute to that here. That would make such a difference to our growth ambitions.

But here’s another thought. If every person reading this right now became a paying subscriber to The Source - and at £6.99 a month it’s cheaper than buying a weekly coffee in Greggs - then we would instantly become a sustainable business that was able to hire staff and deliver the quality of journalism that the North East needs and deserves.

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THE WIDER VIEW

Clue to a sharp mind

If you want to keep however many marbles you have for as long as you possibly can, then crossword puzzles, reading, listening to music, brain-training games or learning a new skill can help. In some cases they can reverse cognitive impairment, a large-scale trial conducted by Southampton University has discovered.

“The key message of the study is crucial,” said Paul Little, Professor of Primary Care Research. “It shows that the brain remains malleable and can learn new things well into older age. This means even the small things you do each day can really make a difference in combating cognitive decline.”

Give peas a chance

The nation should hang its head in shame. We are eating fewer peas now than at any point in the last 50 years.

To help save the Great British pea, Saturday Kitchen’s Matt Tebbutt and Clarkson’s Farm’s Harriet Cowan have teamed up with industry bodies to launch the Choose British Peas campaign to encourage young people to… give peas a chance!

Matt said: “I was genuinely shocked to discover that pea consumption in the UK is at its lowest level in more than 50 years. How have we let that happen? Somewhere along the way, I think we’ve started taking our little green friends for granted.”

Harriet added: “I hope this campaign gets people thinking a little more about where their food comes from, appreciating the work that goes into growing it here in Britain, and choosing British whenever they can.”

For every one of us who thinks ‘I can’t believe it’s October already, where has the time gone’, I have another question: When was the first time you heard of AI?

Artificial Intelligence has actually been around since 1955 but only became an everyday word when OpenAI released ChatGPT to the public in November 2022.

That’s less than four years ago - five years after Taylor Swift’s first UK No 1 single, if that means anything to you.

The Entrepreneurs’ Forum has been asking members about how they are using AI and the benefits they are seeing. The answers are illuminating - and we have asked two founders to tell us more. You may find it helpful.

Also today, there are worrying signs about anti-social behaviour. Parents in one part of Newcastle are afraid to take their children to football practice while police in Hartlepool have issued their third dispersal order after a weekend of chaos and disorder.

A museum director has called on Sunderland University to halt the demolition of the National Glass Centre, the former councillor who failed to show up for any meetings for six months got just 11 votes in his re-election bid, and we pose a grave question - can you go ‘over the top’ with headstones?

Brian Aitken
Editor

Foul behaviour

Parents are too scared to take their children to football practice because of the anti-social behaviour of youths. This is in the part of Newcastle that bus services avoid in the evenings (Eyes & Ears 18.09.26).

Blakelaw FC has nearly 400 youngsters on its books, supported by 70 volunteers. Chair Gavin Campbell said fireworks had been aimed at players over the fences, and a fire had recently been set in the car park. “Parents are scared to bring the kids to football now because the cars are getting hit with stones and eggs where they’re travelling to and from the venue.”

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said the force held meetings to listen to the local community about their concerns and answer any questions. “To date, we have identified 20 young people, some of whom have been arrested and are on police bail pending further enquiries.”

And there’s more

Police issued three dispersal orders in Hartlepool after a weekend of chaos and unruly behaviour in the town’s parks involving an estimated 100 young people.

Fireworks launched at homes, eggs hurled at police and a huge gathering for a pre-arranged fight are just some of the incidents reported in parks across the town since Friday. Officers dealt with several incidents involving large groups of young people in Ward Jackson Park on Saturday night.

Hartlepool Neighbourhoods Inspector Adrian Dack said: “Sadly we’re having to bring in another dispersal order for a park in our town but we’ve had no option since the behaviour of these large groups of young people is leaving the law abiding public - who just want to enjoy their local green space - feeling intimidated and unsafe.

“Last night we also saw direct hostility towards officers who were simply doing their job; we cannot and will not let this go unchallenged.”

‘Stop the demolition’

A museum director has called on Sunderland University to reconsider plans to demolish the National Glass Centre and donate it to the community instead.

Alexander Goodger, director of the Stourbridge Glass Museum, described the £2m demolition as unnecessary and said the university should hand the building over to the Save the National Glass Centre campaign, which has relentlessly pledged to repair and operate the facility as a community asset.

Drawing on his own experience, Mr Goodger pointed to the success of the Stourbridge Glass Museum, which was once a derelict factory but is now an award-winning, self-sustaining attraction. The museum operates without government funding and is powered by a net-zero system using solar panels, Tesla batteries, and LED lighting.

“The National Glass Centre is nothing like the state the Stourbridge site was in,” he said. “It is barely 30 years old. The building still looks brand new. We can implement a similar plan here and save it.”

A quick word

Former councillor John Allen, who lost his Northumberland seat after failing to attend any meetings for six months and then decided to contest the by-election he caused, received just 11 votes. He was expelled from Reform after allegedly making online threats to then Prime Minister Keir Starmer. There were two by-elections on Thursday with Labour regaining both the seats that they lost to Reform in 2025. The operators of Freight Island have secured £3m backing from the Whiterock-managed Investment Fund for Northern Ireland to open a live music and events space at its Newcastle base and expand into Leeds. The official groundbreaking of the £25m Energy Central Institute in Blyth town centre has taken place. MP Ian Lavery, Northumberland council leader Glen Sanderson and Port of Blyth CEO Martin Lawlor, who chairs Energy Central Campus, joined students from Bede Academy and Energy Central Learning Hub for the ceremony. The new building at St Leonard’s Catholic School in Durham has been officially opened three years after buildings were deemed structurally unsafe and at risk of collapse. Some of the 1,400 pupils were forced to take lessons remotely, in temporary buildings or commute several miles away to Ushaw College. It was built in the 1700s to support the local salmon fishing industry, now the Ice House, which is under the Custom House in Berwick, is to become an underground live music venue after two successful trial events took place during the Berwick Fringe. The planting of 600,000 trees is to begin at Greencroft Forest Park in County Durham, making it “England’s largest new productive and mixed woodland in over 40 years,” according to investment firm True North. The project was put on hold after a legal challenge. Chief executive Harry Humble said: “This has been a complex, costly and time–consuming development, and we are excited to finally get trees into the ground and create a forest that local people can enjoy for decades to come.” It’s not the first. It’s unlikely to be the last. But it is the biggest - NETPark-based Filtronic has secured a follow-on order worth £51.3m with Elon Musk’s company SpaceX.

AI’s working for us

Should we be surprised by the latest figures on the use of Artificial Intelligence in North East businesses? Not only are 97% using it in some form but nearly 90% say it is delivering measurable benefits, according to the research from the Entrepreneurs’ Forum.

Other headlines from their Pulse Survey of 113 business owners:

• 34% claim to be saving up to five hours per week

• 32% are seeing productivity or operational efficiencies equivalent to five to 20 hours.

• 23% report significant operational or financial benefits equivalent to more than 50 hours saved each week.

You might find it useful to know that ChatGPT and Claude came joint top with 38% when people were asked which AI tool had proved most useful.

“These results don’t mean every business has suddenly transformed because it bought an AI subscription,” said Elaine Stroud, CEO of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum. “There is still a lot of experimentation going on, but when almost nine in ten users can identify a measurable benefit, it is becoming much harder to dismiss AI’s impact in the workplace.”

Research is the most common application, used by 74%, followed by marketing content and meeting notes or transcripts, both at 65%. More than half use AI for writing proposals, bids, and tenders or summarising lengthy documents, and almost half use it to analyse data or as a thinking partner to stress-test decisions and plans.

“One of the really interesting findings is that AI is also beginning to affect recruitment decisions,” said Elaine. “While 59% say it has made no difference to their hiring plans, 19% of our members expect to recruit people with different skills as a result of AI, and 12% expect to hire fewer people.”

How we use AI

Richard Coates, co-founder and MD of Newcastle serious games studio Lumanorth, and Ben McKechnie, founder and MD of Epicurium, the Consett-based healthy snacks wholesaler, shared their AI journeys with The Source.

When did you start using AI seriously in the business, and what prompted you to explore it?

BEN: About a year and a half ago. Just at senior level, and prompted mainly by the need for advance SQL report coding to allow us to mine our data at the click of a button and avoid awkward pivot tables and misreporting. It cuts report development time to hours and avoids £000’s of development spend, whilst enabling things at the touch of a button we’d never dreamt possible without huge expense.

RICHARD: We started experimenting with AI early, but became serious when we saw the opportunity to make our people faster and more effective, rather than treating AI as another piece of technology. We also saw huge potential in helping clients embed AI into how their people actually work and learn.

Within the business, what are you using AI for today?

BEN: Alongside ongoing SQL data extraction and reporting, we’ve applied AI in drafting product collateral for the sales team - making it quick and most importantly consistent when we’re launching a high number of new products. More recently, we’ve developed an excellent onboarding programme for our internal sales executives, which gets them fully productive within 2 weeks and working at a very high level within 12. I also use it as a strategic sounding board and for ongoing competitor strategy analysis - and this is a game changer. It gives me potential for scanning competitor activity across a vast range of sources.

RICHARD: We use AI for research, analysis, proposals, content, meeting preparation and administration. With clients including McDonalds, Dr Martens and Dogs Trust, we’re particularly interested in applying AI to real workflows, improving access to knowledge, supporting decision-making and training simulators.

Can you give one or two examples of something you now do differently because of AI?

BEN: Onboarding staff – developing an accelerated training programme that can be self-taught rather than requiring time from the incumbent team. Plus a significant amount of management data reporting in ways we couldn’t achieve prior to the use of AI, certainly without the significant cost of time spent doing so.

RICHARD: Research and preparation can be done significantly faster. AI allows us to get through large amounts of information quickly and spend more time on the thinking and judgement that adds real value. For clients, the opportunity is often about creating capacity rather than simply reducing costs.

Has AI changed the jobs people do, the skills you value, or the people you expect to recruit?

BEN: Not so much yet, but it will through upskilling them and affording time spent on productive tasks rather than admin and manual data processing.

RICHARD: Yes. We increasingly value curiosity, judgement, creativity and the ability to work effectively with technology. AI can produce an output, but people still need to ask the right questions, challenge it and apply it intelligently.

Where do you think AI will make the biggest difference to your business over the next 12–24 months?

BEN: Analysing customer buying patterns and creating predictive sales tools and demand forecasting

RICHARD: I expect the biggest shift to be from AI as an assistant to AI embedded in everyday trusted workflows. The opportunity is to create an AI-enabled workforce that gives people more capacity to focus on customers, creativity, relationships and higher-value decisions.

It’s the future - I’ve tasted it

The quote above is from Joshi Herrmann, founder of the Manchester Mill, a company that started just six years ago and now has online newspapers in seven cities. You can read more about Mill Media in Friday’s edition (Eyes & Ears 02.10.26).

The Source is on the same course as the Mill and, with your help, we can provide the North East with a growing media platform that serves up informed opinion and engaging columnists, and produces quality stories on the people and places that make the North East such a great place to live.

Independent, politically neutral - but North East biased.

Becoming a paid subscriber is the most sustainable way to help us achieve that. Are we worth £6.99 a month? You can click on this button if you think we are:

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You could also consider helping our Crowdfunder which has been launched with the express purpose of hiring a reporter who will specialise in public-benefit journalism. We’ve had contributions ranging from £5 to £2,000 so far. You can add to that total by clicking here.

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/thesource

The two stories below are from the Mill Media stable - The Bell in Glasgow and The Tribune in Sheffield. Great examples of what you can get when you invest in quality journalism.

Players and prayers

I spent five years working on the sportsdesk of the Daily Record in Glasgow. I know all about the religious divide. Celtic and Rangers fans would ring in equal numbers to complain about our supposed bias - so we knew we were getting something right.

The Bell, however, has brought a new perspective to the issue of religion and football in Glasgow - with a spotlight on the club which runs bible study sessions, has its own branded Gideons New Testament & Psalms, and where a growing number of players have pre-match prayers on the pitch.

Grave matters

There are gravestones. And then there are gravestones. These are some gravestones.

One has been causing controversy for more than four years and is said to have cost £200,000. The other has been in place for a month.

They are in memory of brothers, members of the travelling community, as The Tribune in Sheffield reports. The final resting place of 49-year-old Willy Collins has been the subject of 34 articles in the local newspaper alone as well as significant mentions in national publications such as The Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the Independent and The Guardian. The headstone for brother Michael has brought the issue back into the limelight.

Both have operational jukeboxes, I might add.

It raises the issue of what is acceptable in a place renowned for respect and quiet contemplation. Some people are not happy with what the Collins family has done. Two CCTV cameras are clearly visible on a large pole just behind Willy’s grave and several local residents allege that relatives sometimes show up in a white van to keep an eye on any strangers seen sniffing around.

Innovation is the buzz word in Newcastle today where Innovate UK is hosting a high-profile forum which coincides with the announcement of a multi-million-pound programme that will create high-quality jobs and reinforce the North East’s position as a hub for research and innovation.

Have you heard of the UK Deposit Return Scheme? Me neither, but it will be a good bit of business for one County Durham company when people start getting 20p back for returning single-use plastic bottles and empty drinks cans. It’s only a year away, apparently.

Mayor Kim McGuinness has commissioned an independent review into the River Tyne nurdle spill, the first phase of Sunderland’s Crown Works Studios has been approved by planners, and the stars are coming out in Newcastle for the Mercury Prize award later this month.

Some of you will know that I used to be the Editor of The Journal. I remember one product development meeting where our business section was criticised because it was “full of pictures of men in suits”. How times change - as you will see from our Business bites section this week.

Also in this edition there’s the National Trust manager “filled with hope by the way nature is taking its course” at the Sycamore Gap site, Reform’s majority in Durham is reduced to two, New Writing North has a new Chair, and the North East football club where players and staff haven’t been paid their wages.

Brian Aitken
Editor

Innovation in the air

A multi-million-pound innovation programme, delivering hundreds of high value jobs to the North East and bringing together world-class university research and leading innovators, has just been announced.

The region’s first four projects will receive a share of £23.7m in funding from the government’s Local Innovation Partnerships Fund (LIPF), unlocking an additional £55m of private investment.

The announcement was timed to coincide with Innovate UK’s Innovation Forum: North East event at The Catalyst at Newcastle Helix this afternoon where regional leaders, businesses and investors will assemble to discuss how innovation can accelerate growth and unlock new opportunities across the region.

The four projects are:

• North East Centre for Accelerating the Green Economy led by Procter and Gamble.

• North East Vision for High Value Materials Innovation Acceleration led by CPI.

• Project Sycamore: Establishing the UK’s First-of-a-Kind Hub for Carbon Negative Advanced materials led by Low Carbon Materials - a spin out from Durham University.

• Centre for Realisation and Advancement of Future Technologies led by Durham University.

Mayor Kim McGuinness said: “This programme brings together our world-class universities with some of our most innovative, cutting-edge businesses, collaboration that will deliver hundreds of good-quality jobs for local people, major private sector investment to benefit our region’s economy, around 90 new products to market and wider benefits including new facilities and growth across the supply chain. This is great news for innovation in the region.”

There is much more on this story here.

University plans £40m cuts

Sunderland University is looking to cut £40m from its budget within a year, blaming a rise in visa refusals that has reduced the number of international students it can recruit.

In an email to staff seen by the BBC, the university’s chief financial officer Ben Dale said: “The savings we make come from a range of measures, covering both staff and non-staff costs, and must be recurrent and permanent - in other words, the costs taken out cannot reappear in future years.”

He said existing financial pressures had been made worse by the “sudden and immediate impact of increased visa refusals” and that the university needed to be structured for its “future scale [and] size of student population”.

A university spokesperson said it was working with staff to identify savings without compromising the student experience, and promised a measured and transparent process.

Nurdle review

North East Mayor Kim McGuinness has commissioned an independent review into the River Tyne nurdle spill after it was revealed that nearly three quarters of the plastic pellets have not been recovered - despite the best efforts of an army of volunteers.

It is estimated that 18 tonnes of nurdles entered the river after a collision between the Wind Orca and berthed container ship BG Orange at the Port of Tyne in July. Just over five tonnes have been recovered.

“So many people have done all they can to clean up but it was always going to be an uphill battle once the nurdles were in the water and dragged by the tides,” said the mayor. “We all want to know whether the response could have been faster or better, and that’s why I have commissioned an independent review into the response and recovery.”

The mayor is backing calls for a change in international rules about how plastic nurdles are transported - something we covered in this edition:

Teacher banned

A teacher who failed to inform her County Durham school of her relationship with a man who had been jailed for sexual offences against a child has been banned from teaching indefinitely.

A professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency said she had not intended to be dishonest but her actions amounted to misconduct of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.

Green light for Studio One

Plans for the first phase of Sunderland’s Crown Works Studios have been approved by the city council. The decision represents a significant step forward towards delivery of the first phase of the 31-hectare site, which is set to become a major hub for film and high-end TV production and a catalyst for further investment in the wider Riverside area.

Studio One will deliver 125,000 sq ft of film and TV production space, including three sound stages, ancillary production accommodation, backlot space parking, alongside the refurbishment of the historic WH Foster Printworks building.

Extensive site preparation and remediation works have already been completed, with enabling work continuing this autumn.

Red lights out

Show Racism The Red Card’s annual Wear Red Day is on October 16 this year with people encouraged to wear red and donate a £1 to the charity - but Gateshead Council is refusing to light up the Millennium Bridge in red to mark the event.

That decision comes just over a week after another Reform-led council, Sunderland, said it wouldn’t be illuminating civic buildings in red on October 16 - and that it was withdrawing any financial support for the charity.

From one AI to another

In Monday’s edition of The Source we’ll be taking a look at AI and how businesses are adopting and adapting to it. A recent Entrepreneur’s Forum survey showed that a large number of members were seeing real benefits. Two founders give us their take on it.

Happy returns

The UK Deposit Return Scheme? It was news to me. But in exactly a year’s time, shoppers will pay a refundable 20p deposit on single-use plastic bottles and drinks cans. They will get the 20p back when they take the empty container to supermarkets acting as a return point. Glass is not included, by the way.

The scheme is run by not-for-profit body Exchange for Change and around 700 jobs are expected to be created at six dedicated processing centres - the nearest ones to the North East being in Scotland and Scunthorpe.

It was a business story that alerted me to the scheme. County Durham-based Hargreaves Services will provide collection and transport services in Scotland after being named as the preferred bidder by Re.Group who were named as the waste‑management partner north of the border. Suez will be the recycling partner in the North East.

Charity fund takes off

Every so often you write something you wish you didn’t need to. This is one such time.

A fund called Matthew’s Meals and Miles was launched this week named after 18-year-old Matthew Adams from Tynemouth, who died last year from metastatic paraganglioma, an ultra-rare and incurable cancer.

His mum is Jane Hall who was my features editor on The Journal for many years and was a regular contributor to The QT. She wanted to launch the fund this week ahead of what would have been his 20th birthday.

The money raised by Matthew’s Meals and Miles will be donated to the Children’s Cancer North charity, which will help with the costs of transport, meals, and accommodation for families visiting the Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle.

“He would be very proud because he had that generous, kind nature,” said Jane. “He didn’t like publicity, he wasn’t one for jumping up and down and going, ‘look at me’, but he really just wanted to go out and do good if he could.”

Matthew, an air cadet who was hoping to study archaeology at university, was in his final year of A-levels at Kings Priory School when his condition quickly deteriorated.

You may have missed…

Big night at the arena

Paul McCartney and Dave won’t be there but the rest of the shortlisted artists for this year’s Mercury Prize awards will be performing at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle on October 22.

Olivia Dean, Jade, Raye, Florence and The Machine, Dove Ellis, local group Knats, Kojey Radical, Nia Archives and Suede will perform one track of their choosing as they compete for the album of the year prize won memorably last year by Sam Fender. Pulp will also perform, representing the charity compilation album War Child Records – HELP(2).

The week-long Mercury Prize Fringe - a big success last year - will bring events to more than 30 venues across the region. It begins on October 15.

Cluny revamp

Talking of music, independent venue The Cluny in Newcastle’s Ouseburn has been awarded £344,000 by the Government’s Arts Everywhere Fund to deliver a programme of sustainability and accessibility improvements. Savills will design and oversee the delivery of the works, which are expected to begin in January and last over a year.

Mark Coulter, associate director in Savills’ architecture and building surveying team, said: “The Cluny plays a hugely important role in the cultural life of Newcastle and the wider North East. We will help create a more accessible, sustainable and resilient venue that can continue to support live music, attract new audiences and deliver lasting benefits for the local community and economy.”

Family rescued

A family of five were rescued after their car became stranded and drifted off the Holy Island causeway. A Seahouses RNLI spokesperson said the incident was a stark reminder of how quickly conditions can change.

“The causeway is tidal. The safe crossing times are there for a reason. This was a vehicle carrying three children. What could have been a family journey home could have had a very different outcome.”

A quick word

National Trust general manager Andrew Poad said he is “filled with hope by the way nature is taking its course” at the site of the felled Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian’s Wall. With a thick ring of new shoots growing around the stump, he said: “These flourishing shoots are really encouraging and show the special measures we’ve taken, including reducing soil compaction around the roots and limiting human disturbance, are paying off. Reform’s majority on Durham County Council has been reduced to two after Aaron Hillam’s decision to resign because he has moved out of the area. Work on restoring the Grade II listed Keelmen’s Hospital in Newcastle has been named as one of the Architectural Heritage Fund’s standout projects for this year. The last section of Gateshead’s A167 flyover has come down after a demolition process that has taken six months. Council chief executive Dale Owens said: “It’s a huge milestone for us to actually get the flyover down so that we can redevelop the site for future housing.” The cost of rebuilding The Maltings in Berwick has nearly doubled to £36m. Northumberland council’s cabinet is expected to agree to pay £7.5m when it meets next week with the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal funding the remaining £28.5m. A 32-year-old man from Sunderland has been arrested in connection with the dumping of “thousands of tonnes of waste” at the former Dewhirst Site in Peterlee and Hart Quarry in Hartlepool. The arrest came as part of a wider investigation by police and the Environment Agency into the two sites, as well as a third near Newcastle Airport. The deadline for donations to help two wildlife trusts raise £30m to buy Rothbury Estate has been extended by a month until the end of October. A 17-year-old boy who was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving has been released on bail pending further inquiries. Three Sunderland College students died after a car came off the road and entered the river near Wearmouth Bridge on Tuesday afternoon. Northumberland’s publicly-run leisure centres have delivered a financial boost to council coffers. The service, run by not-for-profit company Places Leisure, had been expected to be run at a loss of around £115,000 – but ended up bringing in £743,000. Hexham MP Joe Morris is to take up the plight of residents in the town after a group of travelling people set up caravans on the football pitch outside their homes for over a month. Police and council officers said their powers to deal with the issue are insufficient.

Writing new chapter

Former Channel 4 executive Sinead Rocks has been appointed Chair of New Writing North as the Newcastle-based charity marks its 30th anniversary and prepares to open a £10.5m centre dedicated to writing, reading, and publishing.

Rocks, who becomes CEO of ScreenSkills next month, succeeds interim Chair Helen Dalby, editor-in-chief, Reach North East and Yorkshire, who stepped in following the unexpected death of Neil Warwick in December 2025.

Terns thriving

A record-breaking breeding year has been achieved on the Northumberland coast for one of the UK’s rarest seabirds. The Long Nanny site near Beadnell, which is managed by the National Trust, has recorded a minimum of 126 pairs of nesting little terns, compared to the location’s previous record of 57 pairs set in 1994.

At least 82 chicks are known to have fledged from the site, boosting the population of what is the UK’s second rarest breeding seabird. Tony Henderson has more in Cultured. North East.

• Bitterns, one of Britain’s rarest and loudest birds, are thought to have bred at Gosforth Nature Reserve for the first time in 70 years, the Natural History Society of Northumbria said.

Wages unpaid

Gateshead FC has failed to pay players and staff their wages for September. The news comes in the week that Mark Nellist resigned from the board and withdrew his funding support, saying the National League side was “not moving in the direction I would have liked or hoped for.”

Interim chair Graham Wood said he was hopeful of quickly finding new investment for the club. “Significant progress has been made in the past 24 hours and we are hopeful of making an announcement in the next day or so.”

Liverpool switch

The North East delegation that attends the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) in Leeds gets bigger and bigger each year. It is not alone, apparently. Organisers say next year’s event at the Royal Armouries Museum will be the last and that the larger Liverpool Experience Campus will become the new home from 2028.

Business bites

Greggs has begun a consultation on a proposal which could result in the closure of four manufacturing sites, including one at Seaham, and see 740 roles become redundant over two and a half years. Chief executive Roisin Currie said: “These proposals are intended to strengthen our manufacturing network, improve efficiency and ensure we remain well placed for the future while continuing to deliver the quality, value and service our customers expect.” Joanne Whitfield has been promoted to the new role of managing director of FW Capital’s operations in England. The move also sees Newcastle-based Lindsey McMenamin promoted to fund director, leading teams across the North East and Yorkshire. Changes at the top too at Northumbrian Water. The retirement of Richard Warneford at the end of the year means Louise Hunter is taking on the expanded role of Environment and Wastewater Director with Jennie Collingwood becoming Corporate Affairs Director. Newcastle fashion rental business Hirestreet has been acquired by CTR Group, in an undisclosed deal. Founder Isabella West said: “CTR has given us the tools and infrastructure we need to properly scale. It’s a really exciting time for the business.” Property giant Land Securities has agreed a £516m deal to take a 100% stake in the Metrocentre shopping centre. LifeSaver Power, the fast-growing portable phone charging business, has secured £335k from North East investment firm Middleton Enterprises to support the expansion of the company’s charging network across the UK. Fairstone has reported a 17% year-on-year increase in revenue to £179.3m in the year to the end of December 2025. During that time, client assets under advice rose by 35% to hit £21.4bn at the end of 2025. Sports travel business Nirvana Europe has secured a six-figure investment to speed up its digital transformation and overseas growth. The Gate in Newcastle city centre has been bought by M Core, the same company who bought Eldon Garden shopping centre four months ago. Newcastle architecture practice MawsonKerr has opened a studio in Leeds which will be headed up by associate Daniel Dyer.

2018 ad break

This is not an ad you are likely to have seen before - unless you are American or have caught it on social media over the years. It’s a 30-second ad for Purple mattresses that was getting a lot of love on The Poke’s channels this week. I was intrigued enough to check it out and it made me laugh - so I thought it was worth sharing.

THE WIDER VIEW

Source of inspiration

You may already know about Mill Media. You may have heard me mention the company before. I certainly talked about it at the launch of The Source a couple of weeks ago.

It is a company which gives the clearest of indications as to why The Source can grow into being a modern, sustainable media business, supported by people who think that independent, quality journalism is worthy paying for.

The Mill started with one journalist in Manchester six years ago. It now has 25 journalists in not just Manchester but Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham, Glasgow, London and Leeds with 200,000 free subscribers and 15,000 who pay.

Those numbers are about to jump after the company received £100,000 from the Postcode Lottery this week to fund 1,150 subscriptions that the company can give away to people aged 16-25.

David Miller, communications director at Postcode Lottery Group, said: “Strong communities need strong journalism. People should be able to understand what is happening where they live and have access to information they know they can trust. That’s particularly important for young people at a time when misinformation can travel incredibly quickly and AI is changing the information landscape.”

That’s the journey that The Source is on. A sustainable way to demonstrate your support would be to upgrade to become a paying subscriber. You can do that here:

Subscribe now

We are also Crowdfunding with the specific purpose of recruiting a reporter who will specialise in public-benefit journalism. This will enable us to produce more of the journalism that has helped the Mill Media titles become such a success.

So far we have had donations ranging from £5 to £2,000. But we still have a way to go and your support would be very much appreciated.

Here is the link: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/thesource

And finally…

I want this to be true. It probably is - but my Welsh is a bit rusty.

I was scrolling through social media the other day and came across this sign. You may know that there’s a legal requirement in Wales for road signs to be in both English and Welsh.

An official from the Highways Department emailed the English wording to the translator and, after receiving a reply, proceeded to have the sign made and installed. Then Welsh-speaking drivers began to call up to point out that the sign says: “I am currently out of the office. Please submit any work to the translation team.”

We have a very personal piece from Bethany Usher this week - taking us back to her early teens when she was the victim of a senseless and severe beating.

Who owns a crime story, she asks. And what are the ethics of how we tell it? That is the question that stayed with her ever since.

Before that, there is the news that Newcastle University is taking a lead on devolution. A new institute has been created and former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane has been recruited.

The university is also in the headlines for making the youngest son of India’s richest man a professor of practice in sustainability. Anant Ambani is not short of a bob or two himself - and his dad runs oil and gas giant Reliance Industries

There’s the tale of two Middlesbroughs. The Turner Prize exhibition has opened - but there’s also the ongoing PR war for the minds of the town’s youngsters.

And a business leader has pledged to support The Source and explained why others should follow his lead.

He is getting no arguments from me.

Brian Aitken
Editor

Taking a lead on devolution

The North East is taking centre stage in the devolution agenda with Newcastle University creating an Institute of Devolution and announcing former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane as its first Professorial Fellow.

The pioneering institute will bring together researchers, policymakers, business leaders and civic partners from across the UK and beyond to explore how devolved power can drive economic growth, improve public services and strengthen communities.

Haldane, the president of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “The UK’s economic future will increasingly be shaped by the success of its cities, regions and communities. As someone born and raised in the North East, I have seen first-hand the transformative power of regional leadership, regional innovation and regional ambition.”

Professor Jane Robinson, pro-vice-chancellor for business, partnerships and place at Newcastle University said: “Devolution presents one of the most important policy opportunities of our generation. Our ambition is for Newcastle University to become the leading global voice on devolution, supporting governments, civic leaders and communities to turn devolved powers into tangible benefits for the places they serve.”

Dr Henry Kippin, chief executive of the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority said: “The devolution agenda is here to stay – and it is vital that the future is shaped by ideas, expertise and engagement from a diverse range of places and institutions. I am delighted that Newcastle University have stepped up to the plate on this, and I am looking forward to working closely with Andy and the team as we drive forward plans for growth and reform here in the North East.”

A tale of two Boros

It was a big weekend for Middlesbrough with the high profile Turner Prize exhibition opening at MIMA. It was also the start of the well-established Middlebrough Art Week (ends October 3) with artists exhibiting and performing in various venues.

Running alongside the Turner Prize exhibition, and further highlighting the area’s vibrant arts scene, is the Turner on Tees programme which embraces the most prominent exhibition spaces.

Supported by Arts Council England, MIMA and Teesside University, it is part of a strategy called The Next Wave: Creativity Rising aimed at building and sustaining culture, confidence and creative ambition across the Tees Valley.

David Whetstone has done a brilliant job, as usual, in covering all of this in Cultured. North East.

Then there’s this…

“When you walk through the quiet residential streets of eastern Middlesbrough, only the occasional detritus of smashed glass and a few boarded-up windows give away the signs of unrest,” the article in The Telegraph begins.

Detritus. I’d be amazed if the words ‘Middlesbrough’ and ‘detritus’ had ever featured in the same sentence before.

What follows, thankfully, is a detailed, balanced and insightful article. It covers crime stats, deprivation, poverty figures, school absences, the number of people on universal credit, unemployment and crime rates.

Interviewees include former mayor Andy Preston, current mayor Chris Cooke, Professor Simon Winlow of Northumbria University, and Laura Bush, from the charity Youth Focus: North East.

She recently brought in people to talk to children as young as 10 about the pitfalls of gambling and addiction. “It’s early intervention. That’s what youth work is,” she said. “Young people, they live in this world. They see things at home, in the communities. They will see drug dealing down the street. It’s just normal around here now.

“If they want to go down that route, we can never stop them. We just try to give them as much information as possible and say don’t, because it’s obviously very dangerous.”

Convincing them of the virtues of work therefore becomes a PR war against local drug gangs looking to recruit. “You get more money dealing drugs than you would doing an apprenticeship,” she said. “If they need to help mum and dad, or they have siblings, or they want those new trainers, whatever it might be, it’s quick money, and the gangs know that.”

Pledging support for The Source

It’s been just under two weeks since we launched The Source as the new home of Eyes & Ears. Anyone who was at the launch event in The Catalyst in Newcastle will have heard Ian McElroy, chief executive of Tier One Capital, voice his support.

Taking part in a Q&A with Steph McGovern, he pledged £5,000 to The Source - and urged other businesses to follow his lead. “There is a clear need for a new approach to quality journalism and for reasoned debate in the region and that’s why I feel The Source is the right platform at the right time,” he said.

“We need more trusted, independent voices that can celebrate the positivity underpinning our proud region right now and more media organisations that can hold key figures to account.

“The editorial team behind The Source is well connected, experienced and passionate about delivering unbiased journalism and sparking the conversations that will keep us moving forward.

“I am pledging £5,000 to support their work and I would like to see other businesses across the region do the same. A strong voice for the North East can only benefit the North East.”

We want individuals to get involved as well. The most sustainable way to help us is to upgrade to being a paying subscriber - it’s £6.99 a month and you can do that here:

Subscribe now

A Crowdfunder campaign has also been launched to help raise the £35,000 required to employ a reporter specialising in public-benefit journalism:

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/thesource

Steph McGovern, who hosts The Rest is Money podcast with Robert Peston, is investing in The Source. She said: “As a journalist and proud North Eastern lass, I crave local news that isn’t just clickbait drama. What Brian offers is a smart, insightful and impartial analysis of the news that matters to the people here.”

Honour sparks controversy

The month-long celebration of his wedding two years ago cost at least $600m. Performers included Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Katy Perry. The family chartered a $120m cruise for 800 guests including Kim Kardashian, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckenberg, Tony Blair and Boris Johnson.

It’s fair to say Anant Ambani, the youngest son of India’s richest man, does not do things by halves. Father Mukesh runs oil and gas giant Reliance Industries. Anant leads on the renewable energy side of the business and founded Vantara, a 3,500-acre wildlife rescue and conservation centre in Gujarat which has more than 150,000 animals including 200 lions, 250 leopards and 900 crocodiles.

And he has also been made a Professor of Practice in Sustainability by Newcastle University. Speaking at a ceremony in the university’s historic King’s Hall, he said: “As humanity confronts a different set of global challenges, I believe conservation and sustainability must become the next great movement - one that transcends nations, generations and differences.

“It is in that spirit that I accept this honour - not simply as a recognition of past work, but as a responsibility to do more: to help build a future in which people and nature thrive together, on the one planet we all call home.”

The university’s announcement was met with incredulity and derision from academic staff and Indian and international conservationists and environmentalists, according to The Guardian.

“I must say that it is a rather mystifying choice,” Ramachandra Guha, a leading Indian public intellectual and the author of the book Speaking With Nature: The Origins of Indian Environmentalism, told the newspaper.

“As a scholar of Indian and global environmentalism, I can name at least 50 – perhaps 100 – individuals who are far better qualified to be thus honoured.

“I wonder on whose advice Newcastle University has acted, and whether it did due diligence on what has and has not been done in these fields. Its appointment of Mr Ambani is puzzling in the extreme, and is likely to adversely affect the university’s institutional credibility and intellectual standing.”

A Newcastle University spokesperson said: “The award of a professorship of practice recognises Mr Ambani’s contributions to conservation, biodiversity protection, animal welfare and environmental stewardship through his work with Vantara, a wildlife rescue and conservation initiative, and as the executive lead for the Reliance Group’s transition toward a green energy future.”

A quick word

Scientists and doctors at Newcastle are among the first in the UK to use a pioneering brain tumour test with the potential to speed up a diagnosis for patients from weeks to hours. The test has the potential to improve diagnosis and treatment for thousands of patients with brain tumours which can be aggressive and challenging to treat. A Durham police officer has appeared in court on two charges of sexual communication with a child. The 31-year-old was released on condition bail and will next appear at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court on October 1. A marine rescuer said more investigations were needed after a porbeagle shark was found dead on a beach close to where six pilot whales died after becoming stranded near Amble last week. Newcastle has been named Airport of the Year at the Aviation Industry Awards UK. Voted for by a panel of industry experts, the airport was recognised for its award-winning customer service, significant network growth, infrastructure developments and sector-leading sustainability achievements. Comedian Alan Carr’s renovation of his £3.25m Ayrton Castle in Berwickshire could come to a halt - because of roosting bats.

Yes, the doors are open

I must admit that I thought it had happened months ago, but the official opening of Redhills Durham Miners Hall as a centre for culture, education, events and community activity took place on Thursday following its £14m restoration.

Victoria Hughes from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation took to LinkedIn to say: “Being a trustee here may well be the greatest honour of my life. As the Durham Miners’ Association Brass Band played, I thought of my grandad, a County Durham miner who would have loved to have been there. He’d have been first on his feet for the standing ovation they so richly deserved.

“And my god, last night made every trustee meeting about surveys and ground source heat pumps worth it.”

We sent David Whetstone to take a look at Redhills and speak to chief executive Andrew McIntyre last August. It’s well worth a read.

When crime becomes content, who gets to tell the story?

By Dr Bethany Usher

When I was 13, I was the victim of violent crime.

I was kicked unconscious by a gang of girls, not that much older than me, whom I had never met before. It was brutal and stopped only when passing good samaritans pulled over, got out of their car and dragged them off me. While an age-old story of simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, it left physical and psychological injuries that, more than 30 years later, still impact my life.

They were convicted and punished. But one went on to commit further violent crimes as an adult and became the subject of stories in the Sunderland Echo, where, in a strange twist of fate, I had previously been a crime reporter. For both of us, it seems, that moment of madness set us on paths that would frame the rest of our lives.

For me, it meant becoming determined to be a journalist. I wanted to give voice to victims and there were times I feel I did that well. I’ve stayed in touch for many years with some families who lost loved ones to violence.

There were also times when I got it wrong.

When I reached the national press in my mid-20s, I became too caught up in the pressure to perform, meet deadlines and beat rivals to exclusive lines. When the realisation hit that for too many – although by no means all – of my colleagues, human suffering could become little more than fodder for copy, I quit.

It was tough to let go of a job that had been not just a teenage ambition but also, I realise now, my way of coming to terms with what had happened to me.

Those experiences eventually led to my last book, Journalism and Crime, which tried to make sense of why we tell crime stories as we do. I tracked crime reporting back to the first true crime pamphlets of Tudor England and traced some of its more troubling practices right through to the present day.

Now, the landscape of crime news and media has changed in ways none of us could have imagined. Trauma is clickbait, speculation travels further and faster than fact, and victims’ names, photographs and stories are endlessly recycled.

AI is taking us into even more difficult ethical territory. It is even used to animate the images and voices of people who have been brutally killed, making it appear that they are telling their own stories from beyond the grave. It blurs our sense of what is real and risks desensitising audiences in new ways.

But while the technology is new, at the heart of it is a very old question: Who owns a crime story? And what are the ethics of how we tell it?

It is this question – burned into my brain since I became a victim myself – that led to Newcastle University’s Civic Journalism Lab project to develop a new Code of Conduct and practical guidance for both those who create journalistic crime content and the victims who become the subjects of it.

Developed with victims, crime journalists, producers and creators, the Code is now in its final development stages and will launch early next year. Civic Journalism Lab has also developed guidance and support for victims who are encountering the media.

Through this work, we have worked with some incredible journalists and creators. They educate audiences, challenge official accounts, help victims and families find answers and, importantly, care enormously about the people whose stories they tell. Some of them will be at True Crime Forum in Newcastle on Saturday, October 10, where I will also be speaking.

The Code isn’t about policing true crime or telling creators what they are allowed to say. It is about giving people practical tools to make better decisions and creating a community in which journalists and creators can ask for help when the ethical answer isn’t obvious.

But steering professional practice is only part of how we can effect change. You can help too.

As audiences, we have real power. We click, share and speculate. We join online communities. We reward certain kinds of storytelling with our attention. Sometimes we may forget that the person we are discussing online can read every word. What you click on matters because if we choose the ethical content, more of it will be made.

Those journalists, organisations and creators who sign up to the Code will be able to display a mark that helps audiences quickly identify content produced in accordance with its ethical principles.

And new publications such as The Source – which has put ethical journalism and storytelling at the forefront of its development – have an important part to play. Crime news may not be at the centre of its editorial mission, but when crime stories shape our region, The Source will ensure that discussion of them is ethical and responsible and ask questions about the wider social issues that may have played a part.

More than 30 years after becoming a victim of crime, I have experienced crime storytelling from all sides. What I’ve learned is that, at the heart of my work, there is still the vulnerability of that battered and bruised 13-year-old girl. It still drives me to want victims to have a voice and feel heard. Now, that means finding ways for their stories to be told with them, rather than simply about them.

In the end, we all must remember that before there was a headline, a documentary, a drama re-enactment, a podcast or a TikTok post, something awful happened to a real person. That person matters. And our choices can impact them.

• Dr Bethany Usher, Director of Education at Newcastle University, will be speaking at True Crime Forum at the Maldron Hotel on Saturday, October 10. Use code USHER for 10% off tickets. Book at: https://www.truecrimeforum.co.uk/

Headline support

Multi-millionaire entrepreneur Dale Vince is injecting funding into a trio of London newspapers - Camden New Journal, Islington Tribune and Westminster Extra - nearly two years after he failed in a bid to buy The Observer. “Regional newspapers are the bedrock of our democracy,” he told Sky News.

Do any of you know Mr Vince by any chance? I’d really like to meet him - or any other benefactor with a serious interest in supporting public benefit journalism.

I’m easy to get hold of!

I’ll keep this bit short because there is so much to cover in today’s edition. I’ve never known a week like it.

There was a meeting of the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority on Tuesday so there was a fair bit to cover there - trains, training and business support being the most noteworthy.

Mayor Kim McGuinness has also been busy sharing her Budget wish list with Chancellor John Healey. Transport and training were again on the agenda as well as fiscal devolution.

There’s a disturbing investigation into the way we look after young people who need cared for - a council was charged £1.4m to look after one child for a year.

There’s more national attention on what is happening in Durham County Council, a crackdown on crime in Cleveland, and the shocking threats made to a council leader for supporting City of Sanctuary status.

Former Newcastle striker Andy Carroll has revealed he was the victim of a sexual assault, a review into the handling of breast cancer patients at an NHS trust is being extended back to 2015, and the Red Bull revolution at Newcastle begins in earnest tonight.

Plus there’s the 62-mile walk in Northumberland named as one of the world’s top experiences and the Newcastle robots delivering room service in hotels and carrying out cleaning work in care homes.

And there’s more!

Brian Aitken
Editor

Review extended

Hospital chiefs in County Durham have agreed to review up to a further 4,500 breast cancer cases after failings including delayed diagnoses and unnecessary surgeries were found.

Hundreds of patients suffered harm under County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, according to a review of cases dating back to 2023.

The BBC’s Sharon Barbour previously investigated the failings and has spoken to multiple women affected, including one who said she felt “mutilated” and the trust’s mistakes were “absolutely unforgivable”.

Chief executive Steve Russell said the trust was “incredibly conscious women and their families” had experienced “distress, uncertainty and harm”. He said no apology could undo that but the trust would “support women who have been impacted” in any way possible.

Dear John

Chancellor John Healey has received a lengthy wish list from North East Mayor Kim McGuinness ahead of next month’s Budget. Three immediate priorities are:

• improving affordable local transport;

• giving the North East greater powers over skills and post-16 education to tackle high levels of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET); and

• delivering fiscal devolution so more money raised in the region can be reinvested locally.

Her wider submission also set out proposals to support housebuilding, strengthen local government finances, invest in major transport projects including the Leamside Line, boost the region’s green energy sector, attract inward investment and create a £500m North East Growth Fund.

I suppose that’s enough to be going on with. You can read the mayor’s letter here and her full submission here.

More scope - and scrutiny

Kim McGuinness is looking forward to fiscal devolution. Whitehall is preparing for it. But England’s mayors should face much greater official scrutiny to avoid Andy Burnham’s devolution revolution being “derailed by one bad decision”, says IPPR North.

The centre-left think tank, whose researchers have worked closely with Burnham’s government, welcome the “bold and ambitious” plans as a step towards “reversing decades of damaging over-centralisation that has held the country back”.

However, the think tank said increasingly powerful mayors should be subject to much tougher oversight. “A bad decision or mismanaged funding from any one authority risks turning public opinion against devolution and undoing progress.”

Its proposals include establishing regional audit offices to scrutinise how money is spent and what it delivers. It is also proposed that each region should be overseen by a senior accounting officer, similar to the model of permanent secretaries running government departments.

Larger mayoral authorities, such as London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, should be overseen by beefed-up accountability committees to guard against any “misuse of funds, corruption and elite capture by lobbying interests”, the think tank said.

£1.4m - to look after one child

There is something very wrong with the way we look after young people who need cared for.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found that two of Teesside’s five councils spent almost £20m placing children in unregistered care settings over the last two years. Redcar & Cleveland spent £16.4m, the third highest amount in England.

They are not isolated cases.

Redcar & Cleveland spent £1.4m with a private care staffing provider in 2024 for the placement of just one child, and a further £1m in 2025. Middlesbrough, by comparison, recorded a payment of £417,524 for one placement related to the same staffing provider.

The full data and responses from the two Teesside councils were shared with, and independently analysed by, The Teesside Lead.

“Our overriding responsibility is to safeguard vulnerable children and ensure that they receive the support, stability and care they need,” said Luke Henman, Middlesbrough Council’s Executive member for Children’s Services.

“Councils across the country are often left with no option but to look outside registered provision to support a child - this is a symptom of a broken social care system nationwide.”

Help us grow

It was only 10 days ago that we launched The Source, a new online newspaper for the North East - and the new home of Eyes & Ears. Full details are in this article…

We want to make The Source a modern platform for public interest journalism and a launchpad for the next generation of great storytellers.

Independent, politically-neutral but North East biased.

Paid subscriptions are voluntary - but they would help us grow into a thriving sustainable business. Please support us if you can - it’s £6.99 a month or £69.99 for the year.

Subscribe now

Line extension

The North East Mayoral Strategic Authority (MSA) is to fund feasibility work into extending the successful Northumberland Line to Woodhorn and Newbiggin, with the hope that a planning application could be ready by next autumn.

The line has been so successful that there have been calls to put on additional carriages - with Mayor Kim McGuinness saying: “The success of it speaks for itself - and we will get more carriages on it, we are absolutely determined.”

The MSA was discussing the new North East Rail Vision, which contained details of a raft of upgrades planned for the region’s rail networks by 2040. Alongside the Northumberland Line are plans to bring the Metro to Washington, reopen the Leamside Line and take control of the region’s train stations.

Priorities targeted for delivery by 2032 include increasing train service frequency to a minimum of one every 30 minutes at stations including Cramlington and Chester-le-Street and recovering the “losses suffered” in the 2025 East Coast Main Line timetable change.

Open door policy

Companies will benefit from a new £25.9m programme called Business North East which was announced by the MSA on Tuesday. It promises a “no wrong door” approach to accessing support.

Beginning in January, the project will establish a regional hub providing specialist advice alongside seven local authority ‘spokes’, helping businesses understand finance, access mentoring and explore exporting opportunities.

John McCabe, Chief Executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the Business Advisory Council, said: “Designed in close collaboration with businesses, local authorities, universities and support providers, the programme is ideally placed to help more businesses in our region start, scale and grow.”

Training funds

More than 1,600 education and training places for young people across the region are being created thanks to an £8.1m investment by the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority.

The programme will fund 14 projects across all seven local authority areas, supporting colleges, sixth forms and academies to expand teaching facilities, develop specialist learning spaces and improve support for learners with additional needs.

Charlotte Carpenter, Director of Skills, Inclusion & Public Service Reform at the MSA said: “By investing right across the North East, we’re making sure no young person is held back from the skills, training or support that can shape their future.”

NEET solution

Former Darlington MP Alan Milburn is finalising his Government report into the NEET crisis as I write.

If he is still in listening mode, then the True North think tank has called for reform of the benefits system to prioritise getting young people into work and wants to see incentives for employers.

Director Dan Harrison said: “The North has no shortage of talented young people. What we too often lack is an equality of opportunity that allows every young person to turn that talent into achievement.

“The 2026 exam and updated NEET figures should therefore be a call to action. If the North is to fulfil its economic potential, improving educational attainment cannot be treated as peripheral education policy. It must be at the centre of our approach to regional growth.”

An i on Durham

The i Paper has become the latest media outlet to venture North and take a look at what is happening in Durham.

The county council has “an £83m black hole in its finances, and faces a council tax rise and crippling cuts to services”. Some of those services include grass cutting and road gritting. Wedding fees are going up and libraries are getting less money.

Jobs will have to be cut in education and Special Educational Needs (SEN), the council will lose eight of its gritters, the cost of Park and Ride services will increase, funding to the annual food festival will be cut and a theatre café will be shut. The council will also look at reducing gulley cleaning, closing tips and reducing grass cutting – a topic which has already given Reform a headache.

Nick Brown, one of several Reform councillors to quit and sit as an Independent, is critical of the administration for having a lower council tax increase this year despite warnings that the deficit would increase.

“Now the chickens are coming home to roost,” he said. “The economic situation has got worse, the cost of borrowing has gone up.”

Deputy leader Darren Grimes told The i Paper the ‘gap’ in Durham for 2027-28 will only be £800,000 once savings are delivered. “Eight in 10 councils say they are near insolvency. Hampshire is staring down the largest budget gap in England. Durham is nowhere near that,” he said. “And the reason is the decisions taken in the last 18 months.

“No decisions have been taken on savings or council tax. Cabinet papers set out options in public so residents can see them and respond. The pressure itself is no mystery: statutory duties keep growing, the funding to meet them does not. That is a Labour in Whitehall choice landing on County Durham and our low tax base and more deprived communities.”

Quay decision

It’s not a new arena. Not yet, anyway. But plans have been submitted for an open-air performance area and public park on the Gateshead quays.

The area between the Glasshouse and the Baltic has been earmarked for more than a decade for an arena and conference centre. But cost increases have stalled the plans, leaving an unsightly area on the key riverside plot.

Gateshead councillor Steve Campion, cabinet member for economic development, said: “This initial work is fundamental to unlocking the site’s future potential and creating the conditions needed to bring forward future development opportunities, including the proposed arena.”

Leader abused

Newcastle City Council leader Colin Ferguson has spoken out after receiving vile abuse on social media for a video defending Newcastle’s commitment to being a City of Sanctuary.

The video was circulated on a Facebook page called ‘Reform UK – Newcastle and North Tyneside’, leading to comments calling for him to be hanged and beheaded.

Councillor Ferguson, who is from Northern Ireland, said that, if he as a white British man was receiving such abuse, he would “dread to think” of the level of online hate aimed at people from minority ethnic groups or other religions.

“This ugly, divisive language has no place in Newcastle politics,” he said. “It has opened the floodgates for people to question my right to call Newcastle home, just because my accent hasn’t changed in the 20 years I’ve lived here.”

• Newcastle City Council is on track to overspend its budget by £6m this financial year due to its property portfolio, legal costs and the provision of children’s services and adult social care. However, Deputy leader Mark Mitchell said “the numbers will change” as the year continues.

Police crackdown

Cleveland Police launched a series of early morning raids on Monday as part of a crackdown on drug dealing and organised crime. The area has seen increased police activity since a crash on the A66 killed two officers and five young men on August 22.

Supt Daryll Tomlinson said: “This is a relentless day of activity. Teams will be redeployed following tours of duty throughout the day. We have warrants for arrests after identifying addresses linked to drug dealing and serious violence.”

A quick word

Campaigners hoping to keep the North Tyneside Council-owned High Borrans outdoor education centre in Cumbria open see the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority as their last hope. Reform-led Sunderland City Council has decided to withdraw support for the anti-racism charity Show Racism the Red Card. The decision was criticised by former Sunderland captain Gary Bennett who has spent the last 30 years working to eradicate racism from both football and society, including education programmes in schools. The closure of 10 publicly-run nurseries has been confirmed by South Tyneside Council. A plan to close the day care centres in July next year was accepted with reductions in the 116 staff beginning in December. Newcastle International Airport has secured 13 additional direct flights to cater for Sunderland fans as they follow their team in Europe this year with games in Belgium, Italy, Poland and Portugal. Aldi donated 2.1 million meals during the school summer holidays. The donations were the result of the supermarket’s work with Neighbourly, the redistribution organisation that routes surplus food from supermarkets to local charities across the country. Six pilot whales have died on Coquet Island after around 40 were “behaving in a distressed manner typically seen prior to a stranding event” off the Warkworth coast on Sunday. Newcastle Restaurant Week began in 2011 with 13 participating restaurants. Last month’s event broke all records with NE1 reporting that more than 60,000 diners spent £1.2m at over 130 venues. Tributes have been paid to Peter Young who was political editor of the Evening Chronicle for more than 25 years. He was 81. Rockliffe has reopened following a multimillion-pound renovation that sees it transformed into a gastronomy-led, five-star golf destination. Group chief operating officer Shauna Robb said: “We have reimagined the resort to celebrate our regional heritage while introducing a new standard of English luxury - one defined by craftsmanship, genuine North East warmth and meaningful moments of discovery.” Newcastle’s first Fairtrade Trail began on Monday with over 15 businesses and hospitality venues showcasing their Fairtrade wares and raising awareness of ethical shopping. Fairtrade Fortnight ends on October 4.

Designs on success

Next month’s North East’s design week Design in Everything is being supported with £150,000 of funding from the North East Mayoral Authority. Simon Green, CEO of Edge Innovation, said: “Along with the wide range of public, private and third sector organisations already supporting the programme, this gives us the opportunity to create something really exciting for the region.”

Bright Sparks

Newcastle-based Spark Robotics is supplying robots for repetitive work in hotels and other large buildings - and business is so good they are looking to move to bigger premises.

Founder Eric Guo said: “The aim is not to put people out of a job, but to empower them through technology. They are a perfect solution at sites like hotels, hospitality venues, logistics sites, shopping centres and large buildings where they manage repetitive work.

The robots deliver room service in hotels and carry out cleaning work in care homes, shopping centres and other large facilities. Businesses can brand or “dress” the robots to match their image, making them both useful tools and talking points for customers.

Way’s a world wonder

St Cuthbert’s Way, a 62-mile walking route through the Borders to Holy Island, has been named as one of the world’s top experiences in the Lonely Planet Best in Travel Guide - alongside the likes of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and France’s scenic Route Napoleon.

The walk begins in Melrose, where St Cuthbert started his religious life in 650AD, and makes its way through an “ever-changing variety of scenery and spectacular views” and can be “easily completed” in four to six days.

The Lonely Planet guide contains 50 “inspirational travel destinations” with writer and editor Tom Hall describing the route as “perhaps the closest thing modern Britain has to a Camino de Santiago”.

“The part of the walk that passes through the Scottish Borders is really characterised by these lovely towns and villages where there’s pubs, places to stop and stay alongside the beautiful scenery along the River Tweed,” he said. “It then goes into the Cheviot Hills in England and finishes with a bit of a bang on Holy Island.”

Carroll ordeal

Former Newcastle United striker Andy Carroll’s autobiography Owning It was released yesterday. It is already making headline news because of the revelation that he was the subject of a sexual assault five years ago.

The attacker, an unnamed “celebrity mate” of his ex-wife Billi Mucklow, was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison.

“What happened to me affected every facet of my life,” wrote Carroll who both co-owns and plays for National League South club Dagenham and Redbridge. “I’d think about it every day, making it difficult to focus on anything else, including football. The trauma of what happened to me hasn’t gone away.”

Air ambulance appeal

The Great North Air Ambulance Service had a busy summer, responding to 557 emergency call-outs from June 21 to the third week in September. This has prompted renewed calls for help to buy a third helicopter.

Chief pilot Phil Lambert said: “With only two helicopters we live on a knife-edge. If one is in maintenance and the other develops a fault we’re grounded and that means we can’t answer a 999 call by helicopter. A third aircraft changes everything.”

An appeal to raise £2.5m was launched last year but more than £1.5m is still needed before the end of 2026 to meet the target.

Business bites

The latest Entrepreneurs’ Forum survey of North East business owners shows that growth expectations have strengthened for the sixth quarter in a row - 83% expect turnover to rise in the next 12 months and 56% created new jobs in the last quarter. Around a third are holding off decisions until after next month’s budget. Sunderland-based OneClickComply, which can automate up to 90% of the work involved in cybersecurity compliance, has raised £1m from three funds to support its further expansion. The company has doubled monthly recurring revenue in the past six months and aims to achieve similar growth in the six months ahead. Plans to build the next generation of advanced nuclear reactors in Hartlepool have advanced to the regulatory assessment stage. Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said the project has the ambition to bring major investment, highly skilled jobs and huge opportunities to the local supply chain. Prudhoe-based defence technology firm OpenWorks, recently recognised with a King’s Award for Enterprise, has opened an American HQ in Virginia and is looking to open a factory in Detroit. In quite a week for Prudhoe businesses, Dragonfly Advanced Materials has unveiled plans to increase production capacity, create sales and development jobs and boost industrial partnerships on the back of securing investment and grants totalling £1m. Nearly 300 jobs are being lost after a major glass manufacturer entered administration. Clayton Glass is to close its headquarters in Harelaw, County Durham, with 189 workers being made redundant. A further 101 jobs will be lost at the company’s sites in Blackburn and Bellshill in North Lanarkshire. BrewDog staff and creditors have been left empty-handed following the pre-pack sale of the company to Tilray Brands, the US‑based consumer packaged goods company. Administrators at AlixPartners said there were insufficient funds to pay all creditors. Northumberland Estates has sold two industrial estates on Team Valley to property company Northern Trust in a £10m deal. Fledgling companies in the offshore wind sector are being given the opportunity to establish themselves within the Energy Central hub in Blyth with more than £10,000 worth of support through the NOW Spin In accelerator programme. Newcastle-based Smart Carbon has been bought by private equity firm TVI Group in a deal that will accelerate the development of the business’ technology platform and support the company’s next phase of growth.

1997 ad break

Last week’s ad break for the Nissan Almera GTi, a spoof of the TV series The Professionals, went down so well that I have had a request to show the follow up ad - this time from The Sweeney, the groundbreaking crime series from the 70s featuring John Thaw and Dennis Waterman.

Like last week’s ad, this is the full version that lasts just over a minute. The televised ads were just 40 seconds. I have no idea how they managed to cut both ads down - I wouldn’t know where to start.

If you missed last week’s ad then you can catch up with it here:

THE WIDER VIEW

Red Bulls ready

Regardless of the results this season, there is an excitement and buzz around Kingston Park. Newcastle Red Bulls are here to shake up the established order, writes The Telegraph’s rugby reporter Charles Richardson.

The club formerly known as Newcastle Falcons metamorphosed into Newcastle Red Bulls in the summer of 2025. But the proximity of the purchase to the start of last season meant the Red Bull rebrand was somewhat hurried. and it took some time for the Austrian energy drink conglomerate to put its stamp on the rest of the business, both on and off the field.

A year on, however, and those refurbishments are now tangible: “Red Bull might have had its offer accepted for Newcastle last season, but this campaign is when the company has taken the keys and started to give the place a characteristic high-octane makeover,” wrote Richardson.

Managing director Jonny Petrie told him: “We almost have a ‘governing body’ responsibility up here; the North East is such a broad geographical area and we as Red Bull and as a club want to make sure that we are investing in the growth and curation of the sport – amateur and professional.

“We’re trying to respect the history but also set out a bold way forward. It’s time to really go for this.

“We’ve been bottom of the league for however many years so we might as well shake this up in a way that does make people sit up and take notice.” The first match of the season is tonight.

Cash in your chips

I know someone who often uses the phrase “as cheap as chips”, especially when she is trying to convince me that something they would like is a bit of a bargain.

That’s going to have to stop (and probably should have some time ago) after reading ‘Five foods that could cost even more this winter - and why’ in The Conversation.

No real surprise to see chocolate and olive oil make the list. But a combination of adverse and unpredictable weather and higher fertiliser and energy costs mean that leafy greens, bread and potatoes are also set to increase in price in the coming months.

It’s not rocket science

It’s one of the most infectious diseases we know - and we had it beat. Now look what’s happening. The Conversation reports that 900 children have died from measles in Bangladesh in an outbreak that began six months ago.

The country had hoped to eliminate measles and rubella by 2020. Instead, the pandemic disrupted routine childhood vaccinations, leaving pockets of children vulnerable to the virus. Now other countries where vaccination rates have fallen face a similar risk.

Then there’s the good old US of A where the anti-vax movement has surged. It has a vaccine-sceptic Health Secretary in RFK Jr, while the US President regularly repeats debunked claims about childhood jabs and autism.

This is not just populist rhetoric, reports The i Paper. Donald Trump ordered a cut in the number of government-recommended vaccines from 17 to 11 – meaning parents will now have to pay for the other six, if they choose to. And the standard MMR shot is divided into three jabs, given over separate appointments.

The new approach has already had a real, and dangerous, impact. Previously rare outbreaks of preventable illnesses like mumps and whooping cough, as well as measles, are on the rise.

With death being the only experience that all of us must face, Professor Bob Hudson asks what has gone wrong with the way we treat people when it comes to the last moments of their lives.

The North East Mayoral Strategic Authority’s Cabinet meets tomorrow. A big item on the agenda will be rail and Mayor Kim McGuinness’ Rail Vision document - which includes an affordable and simplified fares system, extending the Northumberland Line to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, bringing Northern Powerhouse Rail trains to the region by delivering the Leamside Line, and delivering the Metro to Washington with three new stations.

Arrests have been made and an emergency meeting has been called after “angry children” caused buses to be diverted from a part of Newcastle. There is renewed hope for the future of the High Borrans outdoor education centre, upgrades are on the way for the A1, and there’s global recognition for the 25-year-old Gateshead Millennium Bridge.

Brian Aitken
Editor

Vision on track

Greater local control over rail is the key to better services, more affordable fares and safer more accessible stations, says North East Mayor Kim McGuinness.

“Devolution is our chance to finally transform how the rail system is run and to make it far more affordable for local people,” she said. “We know now is the time to act – with the Prime Minister championing further devolution for our regions and the formation of the new rail body Great British Railways.”

The North East Mayoral Strategic Authority’s Cabinet meets tomorrow. A big item on the agenda will be rail and the mayor’s Rail Vision document - which includes an affordable and simplified fares system, extending the Northumberland Line to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, bringing Northern Powerhouse Rail trains to the region by delivering the Leamside Line, and extending the Metro to Washington with three new stations.

“Getting a train should be affordable, accessible and safe, with a good choice of routes, frequent services and simple fares,” she said. “Smart, integrated tickets should make travel easy and guarantee you get the cheapest price available – other parts of the country have this already so it’s time the North East does too – our Rail Vision is just the start.”

A1 improvements

It’s not the dualling that so many people want, but the Government has confirmed that major upgrades are to be carried out at one of the most notorious junctions on the A1 in Northumberland.

Improvements will be made to the junction for Guyzance with a particular focus on the southbound carriageway, which has seen 19 casualties since 2005. North Northumberland MP David Smith said: “After two years of lobbying, and decades of unsafe driving, I’m delighted to hear that the dangerous junction at Guyzance will be improved.”

Meanwhile, Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson has said he hopes Prime Minister Andy Burnham can work with North East Mayor Kim McGuinness to work out a deal to dual the A1.

Emergency meeting

Residents in Blakelaw and Cowgate are being invited to an emergency meeting with Northumbria Police, Newcastle City Council, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Services, Stagecoach and Empowering People in Communities (EPIC).

The meeting, organised by ward councillors Irene Turnbull, Gavin Hutchinson and Rachel Davison, follows concerns raised by residents about anti-social behaviour and buses being diverted - as reported in Eyes & Ears 18.09.26. It will take place on Thursday at Blakelaw Social Club.

A police spokesperson said nine children have been arrested in connection with the reports and are now on police bail pending further enquiries.

A quick word

The Institute for Outdoor Learning is heading a working group to explore whether the High Borrans outdoor education centre in Windermere, which is due to be shut down by North Tyneside Council in November, can have a future outside council ownership. Former Northumberland councillor John Allen, who lost his seat after failing to turn up to a single council meeting for six months, was paid £18,888 and may be able to earn the same amount again after putting himself forward to stand in the by-election he triggered. It’s the 25th anniversary of the Gateshead Millennium Bridge and it has been accredited as a World Origin Site in recognition of its status as the world’s first tilting bridge. It becomes the first place on Tyneside to receive the accreditation, joining more than 50 World Origin Sites around the world. Alkemy Capital Investments has secured government funding of up to £18.3m for its lithium refinery at the Billingham Chemical Complex in Teesside. Two World War Two hand grenades have been destroyed in a controlled explosion after being discovered by metal detectorists in a field near Blyth. The Tyne Bridge will be closed from 8pm until 6am for five nights beginning tonight to allow the safe removal of scaffolding. Pedestrians and cyclists will still be able to use the bridge. North East Mayor Kim McGuinness has agreed to organise a meeting of interested parties to discuss the future of glassmaking in Sunderland.

Shorts story

A campaign to create a world-leading cancer drug trials centre in Newcastle is entering its final fundraising push, with £1m still needed to deliver the £30m facility.

The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, part of Newcastle Hospitals Charity, is funding the Sir Bobby Robson Institute, which is under construction at the Freeman Hospital and due for completion next year.

Former Sunderland manager Peter Reid, who took part in the Great North Run to raise funds for the foundation, visited the site of the institute to take part in a time capsule ceremony - donating a pair of his World Cup shorts from Italia ’90 when Sir Bobby was his manager.

We need your help

The Source is the new home of Eyes & Ears. Full details are in the article below (We’ve started: what now?). Would be good to know you are behind what we are trying to do. Becoming a paid subscriber would be a huge help. You can do that here:

Subscribe now

Our immediate aim is to raise £35,000 to enable The Source to employ a reporter specialising in public benefit journalism. We have launched a Crowdfunding campaign for that specific purpose.

The first person to join the Crowdfunder was former Guardian regional affairs editor Peter Hetherington. He said: “This is a venture desperately needed in the North East: a regular source of independent journalism, good writing and information to underpin the ambitions (hopefully) of a mayoral strategic authority, hold it (and the government) to account where necessary, and provide a platform for those with ideas to drive forward the economy. All this while telling good stories.”

To donate:
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Dying to know: Unraveling end-of-life care

By Bob Hudson

For those of us lucky enough to be around, 1967 felt like a good time to be alive: the sun shone down on the ‘Summer of Love’, the music was exuberant and the future brimmed with optimism. But all good things come to an end, and this was also the year that the first modern hospice opened in London. The driving force behind it – nurse, social worker and physician, Cicely Saunders – said at the time: “You matter because you are you, you matter to the last moment of your life’”

Fast forward almost 60 years and hospice staff from across England gathered in Westminster to demand urgent action on funding, as services are cut and pressures on hospices are said to be at ‘breaking point’. What has gone wrong? Do we no longer matter to the last moment of life?

Although the UK is not the only country in which End-of-Life-Care (EOLC) is seen as ‘add-on extra’, provision, our services do rely unduly heavily on voluntary endeavour. There are currently 135 independent adult hospice charities in England, each typically operating from a single location. In our region the providers include St Cuthbert’s (Durham), St Oswald’s (Newcastle), Tynedale Hospice (Hexham), Willow Burn (Lanchester), Teesside Hospice and Butterwick (Stockton). Alongside this there are two national charities (Marie Curie and Sue Ryder) operating across 12 locations, one of which is Newcastle.

Hospice activity can cover support in people’s own homes as well as in purpose-built facilities. A recent report by the National Audit Office (NAO) reveals how much of this provision lies outside of the remit of the NHS, such as counselling and bereavement support for family, friends and carers. In 2023-4 around 251,000 people were provided with palliative and EOLC, and 1,227,000 people received community visits. Death in a hospice still remains a relatively rare occurrence, only about 5% of the total. The bulk of deaths take place in hospitals, at home, or in care homes – locations that are not necessarily specialised to offer EOLC.

Why would such vital activity be at risk? As ever, follow the money. Charitable donations, fund-raising, legacies and retailing, generate most of the income, with government funding (via regional Integrated Care Boards) accounting for only about 29% of total funding. In the meantime, with an aging population in which people are living longer and with more complex health conditions, demand is growing.

This reliance upon charitable funding has implications for our region. The NAO’s report points out that a heavy reliance on charitable sources means that a postcode lottery applies to provision, advantaging wealthier areas. Patient bed availability was found to range from one per 2900 population to a staggering one per 54,300. Proximity to hospice care accordingly varies regionally – a median of 4.6 minutes of driving in London compared to 26 minutes in the North East.

Financial insecurity is beginning to take its toll. Almost two-thirds of independent hospices reported a deficit in 2023-4, and a combination of factors – declining donations, inflation, higher employment costs – is leading to a reduction in beds and to staff layoffs. The trade body, Hospice UK, estimates that the sector is facing a collective deficit of £77 million, the worst it has been for 20 years. Fund-raising activities by altruistic marathon runners and cyclists make headlines, but don’t cover deficits.

The impact of this here in the North East is evident:

• Butterwick Hospice has reported its future to be unsustainable. Teesside Hospice has been kept afloat by some unexpected legacies but is still unable to cover its costs. Even the hospices own charity shops are now closing due to poor sales and, in desperation, the two organisations have now formally merged.

• St Cuthbert’s Hospice has been forced to close its Community Outreach, Dementia Services and Adult Bereavement Service, with commensurate staff redundancies.

• St Oswald’s Hospice is running with a budget deficit of over £1million, with the hike in national insurance contributions alone costing over £300,000.

The many problems facing hospices have recently been caught up in the parallel debate over assisted dying. The original bill, led by Labour MP, Kim Leadbeater, ran out of time in the last parliament, and new PM, Andy Burnham, linked further progress to EOLC, saying it would be ‘very challenging’ to pass the bill before palliative care was improved. The MP for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend, Mary Glindon, has expressed a similar view in strong terms.

It would be optimistic to conclude that the subsequent defeat of the assisted dying bill will lead to a resolution of the financial problems facing EOLC. Not only is there no significant new funding, neither is there a coherent commissioning strategy on the part of the regional Integrated Care Boards. The NAO report found that the proportion of total income that individual hospices receive from ICBs ranged from 0% to 80%, and in the absence of data collection there was no monitoring of the quality of care.

It is little wonder that a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hospice and EOLC described ICB hospice commissioning as ‘not fit for purpose’. In response to these criticisms, NHS England has now issued a guide to ‘good’ commissioning for palliative and EOLC but there appears to be no new funding attached to the guidance, other than a one-off bailout of £100m for capital spending. The problem also runs deeper than weak commissioning; it is about the absence of a national strategy, the last one of which was published back in 2008.

The palliative care expert, Dr Rachel Clarke, has pointed out that we would never tolerate a government that chose to defund most neo-natal services, gambling instead that charities would fill the gap. Yet this is exactly the situation faced by people needing EOLC. The Prime Minister, on a recent visit to Wigan and Leigh hospice in his Makerfield constituency, was so concerned about the need for support at the hospice that he pledged to donate 15% of his MP salary to it. He also made a similar pledge to the North East homelessness charity, Changing Lives, after his completion of the Great North Run.

Gestures like this are honourable, as are the many individual and collective fund-raising activities, but it is systematic government action that is required. Death is the only experience that all of us, without exception, must face – around 580,000 every year in England and Wales. And those who experienced the 67 ‘Summer of Love’ are now themselves reaching the end of their natural span of life.

So, back to Cicely Saunders, who wisely observed that ‘How people die remains in the memories of those who live’. We all know someone we love and respect who has died, and sadly not always in circumstances of their choosing. This is why EOLC care is about all of us. It is surely way beyond time for a new national strategy, supported by smarter commissioning and adequate, equitably distributed, funding.

Bob Hudson,
Visiting Professor in Public Policy,
University of Sunderland.

A new online newspaper for the North East.

There we were in a fantastic venue packed with some top, top people. A welcome from Charlie Charlton, Steph McGovern in great form as she announces she is investing in the business, the ‘Ooos’ as the classy branding designed by Cravens is revealed on the big screen.

And it would be easy to sit back and think: “This is great. This is what we need. They’ve got this sorted.”

I would respond with a ‘yes’, ‘yes’ and ‘no we don’t’.

Eyes & Ears was successful in obtaining equity funding from the North East Accelerate Fund managed by Mercia. That has given us a base from which to launch The Source - with Eyes & Ears becoming a weekly column in the new venture.

Independent, politically-neutral but North East biased, The Source will be a modern platform for regionally unique public benefit journalism and a launchpad for the next generation of great storytellers.

It will have more issue-led journalism, a focus on regional affairs, serve up informed opinion and engaging columnists, and produce quality stories on the people and places that make the North East such a great place to live.

It’s important I manage expectations here. I stressed at the launch event that one of the biggest lessons learned is to walk before we try running. To do all of that we need more funding, more subscribers - and the support of sponsors and advertisers.

How you can help

If you are a subscriber then encourage other people to do the same. Use your social media to tell people about The Source. If you are a free subscriber then the most sustainable way to support us is to become a paid subscriber - it costs £6.99 a month and you can do that here:

Subscribe now

HMRC runs a Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme which gives tax reliefs to individuals to incentivise them to support early‑stage companies like ours. That’s what Steph is doing - and we would welcome more people to join her and Lady Jane Gibson in doing so.

Our immediate aim is to raise £35,000 to enable The Source to employ a reporter specialising in public benefit journalism. We have launched a Crowdfunding campaign for that specific purpose.

The first person to join the Crowdfunder was former Guardian regional affairs editor Peter Hetherington. He said: “This is a venture desperately needed in the North East: a regular source of independent journalism, good writing and information to underpin the ambitions (hopefully) of a mayoral strategic authority, hold it (and the government) to account where necessary, and provide a platform for those with ideas to drive forward the economy. All this while telling good stories.”

To donate:
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/thesource

Philanthropy and public benefit journalism

One of the slides shown at the launch event at The Catalyst was a quote from Claire Malcolm, chief executive of New Writing North: “Democracy is under threat from social media and disinformation. Ensuring that communities of interest have trusted media is becoming a priority for many people both politically and from a philanthropic direction.”

The Charity Commission has said that certain kinds of journalism can count as charitable activity - investigative work that exposes wrongdoing or defends people’s rights, articles that help people understand and engage with how they’re governed, coverage of the arts, heritage, culture and science.

That makes it possible for charitable trusts and foundations to fund our work and means that businesses who want to support The Source can do so through any CSR budget as well as their marketing or advertising budget.

Last word on the launch

We worked with Gateshead College on the launch event. Their students were amazing. Manning the registration desk, stewarding, filming, photography, AV work, they were brilliant and a credit to the college. All the images in the picture galleries today were taken by Charlie Eaton. The students also benefitted from some quality time with Steph and Charlie Charlton who had welcomed everyone to the Helix and kicked off a Q&A and comments section at the end.

Tomorrow

A new edition of The Source will be published featuring an article by Professor Bob Hudson: Dying to know: Unraveling end-of-life care.