Celebrating Our First Week at our New Home at Holy Rosary

This week has marked an exciting new chapter for everyone at Teams and Bensham Community Care as we moved into our new home at Holy Rosary Parish House. After a great deal of planning and preparation, it has been wonderful to finally open the doors and welcome people into our new space.

From the moment we arrived, there has been a real sense of warmth and enthusiasm. Staff, volunteers, and members of our community have all played a part in helping us settle in, and it has already started to feel like home.

The week started with our men's groups on Monday, and it was lovely to see Jimmy, who has attended the groups the longest, cutting the ribbon to officially open the new day centre. Our lunch clubs returned on Tuesday and it has been lovely to see familiar faces gathering together again, sharing a hot meal, enjoying conversation, and catching up with friends across each of the five days.

The Holy Rosary Parish House has been refurbished with a new ramp, accessible toilets, a better layout, and a new kitchen, giving us a comfortable and welcoming environment where people can relax, socialise, and enjoy the sense of community the groups create.

Laughter and conversation have filled the room each day as everyone has settled in. These groups are such an important part of what we do, providing a place where people can connect, support each other, and enjoy spending time together.

The smells coming from the kitchen have been wonderful. We've enjoyed freshly cooked meals and puddings each day and lots of freshly baked goods like quiches, scones and pies.

Moving into a new space always takes a little time to adjust, but our first week at Holy Rosary Parish House has been incredibly positive. The building is already buzzing with activity, and it has been heartwarming to see everyone back together after a short week's closure to get set up.

We are very grateful to everyone who has helped make the move possible, from the staff and volunteers who worked hard behind the scenes to our lunch club and men's groups members who have embraced the new venue with such positivity. We'd also like to give a heartfelt thank you to our funders too who have made this all possible:-

Gateshead Council

The Wolfson Foundation

Bernard Sunley Foundation

The Clothworkers Foundation

Gateshead Parochial Charities

William Webster Charitable Trust

Benefact Trust

Laing Family Trust

Screwfix Foundation

Morrisons Foundation

Thank you also for the amazing support we received from architect, David Noble, who spent a great deal of his time for over two years helping us to plan the refurbishment to make the building what it is today. Thank you to Able Construction who brought our vision to life with so much patience and kindness, and to Thornton Firkin for their skills and expertise as project management and quantity surveyors.

As we continue to settle in, we’re looking forward to many more lunches, conversations, activities, and friendships growing within these walls.

Holy Rosary Parish House is already becoming a place where people feel welcome, supported, and part of something special.

Here’s to the start of a new chapter for Teams and Bensham Community Care and to many happy days ahead in our new home.

If you or someone you know would like to join us our lunch clubs or men's groups, contact our team on 0191 4600297. There's a range of activities at each group, a freshly cooked two-course meal, refreshments and accessible minibus transport from home and back again in the local area.