Hopes Newcastle Centre for Writing will help bridge funding gap
"There is not enough national money – we do seem to have been a bit forgotten about up here," she said.Think tank IPPR North said its analysis had found a £450m "culture chasm" between London and the North of England, which had added to a "vicious cycle of regional inequality"."It is unbelievable that this is happening in this day and age," McGuinness said.
'Bold step'
Leaders hope the Centre for Writing will cement the region as a hub for writing and literature and attract big-name publishers to the area, as well as supporting Newcastle's Seven Stories and The National Centre for the Written Word in South Shields.Neca will acquire a Newcastle property to house the centre, which will then be run by Tyneside-based charity New Writing North and Northumbria University, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.The Department for Culture Media and Sport has confirmed it will provide £5m towards the Centre for Writing, while Northumbria University is set to provide £2.5m in funding.Neca said it would provide £2m and Newcastle City Council is expected to provide £1m. It is hoped the remaining £850,000 will be secured through additional grants.
Newcastle City Council deputy leader Alex Hay said the creation of the centre was a "bold step" for the region's creative industries."This is more than just a building – it is about growing jobs, attracting investment and giving people of all ages a way into the creative industries, ensuring the North East has a strong voice in UK culture," he said.
Follow BBC Newcastle on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
9 minutes ago
- BBC News
Walking East Yorkshire Festival returns with tours and cycling
Guided walks, cycle rides and cultural tours will be held in East Yorkshire next Walking East Yorkshire Festival, now in its 15th year, will take place from 6 to 14 include a tour of award-winning Laurel Vines near Driffield, a "boots and beers" walk around Wold Top Brewery at Humanby, and a boat trip on the Pocklington Coultish, cabinet member for culture, leisure and tourism at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said the festival would showcase "the very best" of the county. Visitors to the coast will be able to take in walks along the King Charles III England Coast Path between Flamborough and Danes Dyke, Hornsea to Mappleton and Kilnsea to Easington as well as on Hessle Foreshore and across the Humber Bridge.A history cycle ride will head from Hornsea to Atwick while cyclists from Driffield and Beverley will lead routes around the surrounding walks will be staged at venues including Carlton Towers near Snaith, and Wassand Hall near Hornsea. Beverley will also see a guided walk explore the history of the town from shipbuilding to literary pioneer, Mary events include a four-stage, four-day walk along the Wold Rangers Way, a walk along Hull's waterfront and a tour of Victorian full programme of events can be found on the festival website. Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices
BBC News
9 minutes ago
- BBC News
How a Cheshire woman conquered Spotify with her 'weird' podcast
"I don't think there's really a blueprint for how it should feel when something like that happens, but it was probably one of the most surreal moments of my life."YouTuber, turned TikToker, turned podcaster Chyaz Samuel has always loved strange-but-true stories, ever since she was a the pandemic, the freelance presenter decided to put that passion to good use and, from her spare room in her south Cheshire home, created the Things Are About to Get Weird podcast in then, the 71 episodes combined have been downloaded more than a million times and it also had a stint at the top of Spotify's true crime chart and broke into the top 10 of all UK podcasts. "I was just at home on my own when I found out, which is kind of fitting as I'm a one-woman band and do this all on my own," she said."I shed a tear - I'm a very emotional person anyway but it just felt incredible and I didn't really know what to do." Samuel was no stranger to online attention – she began her content creation career on YouTube in 2009, specialising in alternative music and fashion.A video she made in 2010 on how to recreate Avril Lavigne's look from the Girlfriend music video garnered 1.2m would later continue that style of content on TikTok, where she has more than 180,000 followers, before she began her podcast stories she has covered on Things Are About to Get Weird included her first episode on Ursula and Sabina Eriksson – the twins who came to national attention following an incident on the M6 in said she comes up with the ideas, does the research, writes the scripts, records the podcast, edits the audio and handles the social media by said the amount of work and type of research "varies from topic to topic" and highlighted her episode exploring sleep paralysis."I actually talked to people who experienced it and read scientific papers about it," she said. "Other times it will be historical documents, if it's a story that's really steeped in history. It's always nice to do something different every time." Samuel said she would often get suggestions for episodes from listeners eager to hear her cover little-known tales."There's always going to be stories that you haven't heard of and I love to cover those - the ones that are slightly off the beaten track," she makes her podcast alongside her freelance work as a presenter and content creator, which has previously included interviewing Game of Thrones actor Maisie Williams for the workload and suggestions from followers, Samuel said she would "never use" artificial intelligence as part of her process."For me, as a creative, that just completely defeats the purpose," she said. "I started this podcast because I love the stories and I love the research."Samuel has temporarily scaled back the frequency of her episodes to one per month but hopes to return to her previous fortnightly schedule in the near encouraged anyone else who was thinking about starting a podcast to "give it a go"."My biggest piece of advice is, before you click record, sit down and make sure that you have your concept, so you know exactly what you want to do and what you want to achieve," she added. Read more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
The Sun
9 minutes ago
- The Sun
Junior Andre admits he's ‘overcoming a few challenges' in his career as sister Princess lands her very own show
JUNIOR Andre has admitted he is "overcoming challenges" as he prepares to get his music career back on track. The 20-year-old made his debut on the music scene three years ago with his viral track, Slide. 4 4 4 It became a trending sound on TikTok and saw Junior propelled into the spotlight on his own for the first time. He soon signed his first record deal but in the months that followed, a number of delays appeared to stall the release of further tracks. Now, the son of Peter Andre and Katie Price has revealed there have been "challenges" for the first time but that his music is still very much underway and in the pipeline. Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Junior said: "I haven't been putting pressure on myself and I've been overcoming a couple of challenges. "It's nothing that I can't beat but it will be good in due time. "Don't sleep on me - trust me, it's coming hot!" Junior later re-iterated he was focusing on "music and acting" going forward as well as teasing plans for his own business as well as a fragrance line. Junior is no stranger to music being the son of Peter Andre. Peter is best known for his hit single, Mysterious Girl, and has continued to release music ever since. He revived his music career shortly before his split with wife Katie with the track, Behind Closed Doors. EXC Princess and Junior Andre reveal deal-breaker demand for I'm A Celeb and why they don't care about 'nepo-baby' label Katie herself is no stranger to being a singer having taken part in the 2005 Eurovision search with her pop song, Not Just Anybody. She later teamed up with husband Peter for the duet album, A Whole New World - arguably her most famous musical release to date. Katie released further singles with 2010's Free To Love Again, her well-known 2017 song I Got U as well as follow-up track, Hurricane. In recent years, she has begun to perform at various events and has toured the country with her singing show. New details on Junior's music career comes as his sister Princess took to the spotlight for the first time in her own right too with her ITV2 series, The Princess Diaries. The show follows his younger sister's life as she prepares to launch her own make-up line. However, the show has been mixed in controversy after Princess' mother Katie claimed she was banned from being featured. Katie was reportedly left hurt after being banned from filming amid concern that it could be detrimental to Princess' image to appear alongside her mother. It led to the mum-of-five declaring that she wouldn't bother to watch the programme. 4
