Parting gift from former Teesdale YMCA chief executive – helping to secure £300,000 Lottery cash

ERSTWHILE Teesdale YMCA chief executive Kevin Wake’s parting gift as he left the youth group was to help secure its future.
Confirmation that the group had been awarded £314,806 in funding from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities programme came on the same day he left his post at the end of last year.
The cash guarantees Teesdale YMCA’s future for the next three years and is part of a pot of £1,571,330 that has been given to projects in the North East.
Mr Wake’s successor Don Irving said: “It is fantastic to have three years of security which will look after a lot of the core costs.”
He added that the cash would also help establish a new community cafe at Evenwood’s Randolph Community Centre similar to that which successfully operates in Cockfield.
Other projects the youth group operates include a training and education scheme to provide accredited qualifications for those who struggle with mainstream education; sexual health programmes; after school provision and community access and support meetings.
The support meetings, which started in Cockfield and Evenwood, have now been extended to other villages including Butterknowle and Staindrop, and offer support for people to access any information they might need.
This can include help on compiling a CV, accessing benefits and various government and council services, and using the internet.
The new funding will also ensure the popular drop-in sessions at the YMCA office, in Barnard Castle, can also continue.
Of the former chief executive learning about confirmation of the grant, Mr Irving said: “What a parting gift, a nice £300,000-plus from the Reaching Communities Fund.
“He found out on the last day so he was able to say, ‘I have some good news and some bad news – the bad news is I’m leaving, the good news is there is all this money’. What a way to bow out.”