St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP)

The Diocesan branch of the SVP is known as Tyne Central Council. It is subdivided into districts and within each district, there are teams of members known as Conferences. These are usually, but not exclusively, parish based, and each Conference tries to seek out and help those suffering from any kind of poverty. Poverty is when circumstances exclude a person or household from the ordinary patterns or activities of society. Diocesan SVP members, therefore, help those experiencing various types of exclusion, including the housebound, the lonely, low-income families and those struggling to settle in the area.

Visiting and befriending, is at the heart of what the SVP do, but practical help, for example in the form of food and clothes, is also provided where necessary. SVP groups may also be involved in other ways, depending upon the needs of the community, such as organising parish trips or social events, helping with transport to Mass and supporting asylum seekers.

The SVP is active in Hexham and Newcastle in other ways too. Within our Diocese, the SVP run two community support projects, several charity shops, a holiday camp on Holy Island, a holiday caravan, homeless hostels and youth sections of the SVP operate in primary schools, secondary schools and universities.

New members and volunteers interested in making a difference in the community are always welcome. Please use the contact details opposite if you wish to know more.

Located on New Bridge Street, Newcastle, St Vincent’s Support Centre is a bustling community hub which is free and welcoming to all. Additionally, there is a 21 bed Men’s Hostel, supporting men who would otherwise be homeless.

The Centre provides services that include:

• Vinnies Drop-In – open every Tuesday. The drop-in service provides a free, nutritious, three-course cooked lunch for local people who need a warm meal and an opportunity to socialise. We usually serve 190 three-course hot meals each week.
• Vinnies Community Pantry Market – open Monday to Friday. Local residents can purchase a week’s worth of shopping for £5. The pantry provides fresh fruit and vegetables, bakery items, meat, fish, dairy produce, toiletries and fresh flowers at a fraction of the usual cost.
• Vinnies Cost of Living market – open every Thursday. The market sells furniture, electricals, clothing, shoes and more. It also provides an opportunity for people to socialise, browse and have a free cuppa in a warm space.
• Free welfare, energy, and debt advice through a partnership with Citizen’s Advice.
• Several free activity sessions each week aimed at reducing social isolation and improving a sense of wellbeing, including an ever-growing Knit & Natter group, Men’s Pie & Poetry group, Women’s Group, Iyengar Yoga sessions and employability classes.
• Food, nutrition, and cookery classes are delivered by the Catering Supervisor. Supporting an identified need (especially those from other countries and cultures), the classes address the lack the skills, knowledge and experience in planning for, shopping for, preparing and cooking healthy meals cost effectively.
• Mental Health Support – free counselling sessions with BACP third year counselling students. This service is offered three days per week, and there is a waiting list for this service.
• St Vincent’s is also home to a refugee and people seeking asylum project, run by the diocesan Justice & Peace group. This currently supports over 400 local households with food and clothing.
• Dedicated and bespoke support and advocacy to help people move forward with their lives.

The Centre relies on the generosity of its volunteers and new volunteers are always welcome. The voluntary programme is wide and varied, covering various areas of Centre operation, including; catering, sorting donations, foodbank, community pantry, community market and more.

If you would like to support our project in its essential work by making a donation, please follow this link.

The SVP Deaf Centre’s mission statement is ‘Advocacy, Inclusion and Collaboration.’

We are a Community Support Project on Summerhill Grove, in the West End of Newcastle. The SVP have worked with the Deaf community since 1930 and the centre was set up to provide deaf people of all ages and faith backgrounds with a place to meet, socialise and be informed about issues that directly affect them. Its focus today is to be inclusive, so the Deaf community, Hard of Hearing and Hearing communities are brought together.

What makes the Deaf Centre a unique project is the way people are empowered through long-term person to person support via education, mentoring, guidance and providing access to meaningful opportunities.

We host a regular drop in café and social club for the Deaf community. There is a weekly School of British Sign Language class. Local children and youth up to college age are engaged through holiday clubs and enrichment programmes. We also host special events such as Heritage Open Day, International Day of Sign Language and World Deaf Awareness Week. A beautiful chapel within the building is also used to celebrate a monthly BSL Mass and is used by local schools for education and worship.

The Deaf Centre is a key player in academic research, working together with universities nationally on solutions to bridge communication gaps between Deaf and Hearing cultures. These partnerships enable us to offer young people training and job opportunities that they would not otherwise have access to. We have also been working with the transport and technological industries towards improving accessibility of their services. This opens up a variety of opportunities to those whose access is otherwise limited and therefore aligns with our vision of making society more inclusive.

Please feel free to contact us to see who we are and what we stand for. If you would like to support our project with a donation to help us continue our vital work, please use the adjacent link.