InformationNow News 22 May 2026

The local elections on 7 May brought significant changes to the city. We said goodbye to a number of long-serving councillors and thank them for their contribution and service.

Newcastle City Council is now mostly split between three main parties.  While it is too early to say what this will mean in practice, councillors of all parties play an important role in representing and supporting their communities.

With many new councillors in place, there may be an initial period of adjustment. In the meantime, Newcastle City Council will continue to deliver the services residents rely on.

Read more on InformationNow about Newcastle City Council

‘One of Our Own’ Mental Health Awareness Campaign

Earlier this month, we teamed up with Newcastle United to launch the new ‘One of Our Own’ campaign, as part of Mental Health Awareness Week 2026.

We positioned 11 black-and-white benches in communities and parks around Newcastle. Each bench features prompts designed to turn casual ‘terrace talk’ into meaningful conversations around wellbeing.

In a region where suicide is the leading cause of death for men under 50, these benches serve a vital purpose: breaking the silence.

You can learn more about the campaign here.

Read more on InformationNow about local mental health support

SPOTLIGHT ON

What Do You Think of Adult Social Care?

Closes 1 July 2026

Healthwatch Newcastle want to make local health and care services better for you. To do this, they want to find out how you experience these services, so that they can make positive change based on what you tell them. They’d like to know what services are working well, as well as where improvements might be needed.

Share your views by filling out the survey here.

Read more on InformationNow about Healthwatch Newcastle

Carers Week

8 June to 14 June 2026

Carers Week 2026 (8 – 15 June) is an annual campaign recognising and raising awareness of unpaid carers. There are around 5.8 million unpaid carers in the UK. A carer looks after someone who could not manage without their support – this could be because of an illness, disability, mental health problem or addiction.

This year, the theme is ‘Building Carer Friendly Communities’. This will highlight the impact of carer-friendly communities can have in making a difference to the lives of carers everywhere.

There is lots of support available for carers, including Newcastle Carers, Carers UK and Carers Trust.

To get involved, or read more about Carers Week, go to: www.newcastlecarers.org.uk/carers-week2026

Many people, including your colleagues, could be carers. In fact, one in seven employees in the workplace are carers. Newcastle Carers have a toolkit that can help you show your support for carers in the workplace this Carers Week. You can download the toolkit here.

Read more on InformationNow about support for carers

Free Energy Bills Support

If you’re struggling with energy bills, did you know that you can get free, end-to-end support?

The HEAT service is available for anyone in England, Scotland or Wales experiencing energy-related difficulties, with a particular focus on supporting the most vulnerable households, including those that:

• Are struggling with energy costs or fuel debt
• Are unemployed or on low incomes
• Are at risk of going off supply
• Need support to stabilise their situation
• Are over 65 or have disabilities or health conditions requiring higher energy use

There are lots of different ways that they can support you. They include:

• Personalised support, with a dedicated energy mentor providing 1-to-1 help
• Fuel vouchers or food vouchers (if eligible) for those at risk or off supply
• Negotiation with energy suppliers to reduce debt and agree manageable repayment plans
• Help to resolve incorrect, complex or disputed energy bills
• Support to keep households on energy supply
• Practical advice and support to reduce energy use, cut waste and keep bills as low as possible
• Help applying for financial support and energy schemes
• Supporting households from crisis to a more stable situation

Read more on InformantionNow about The Wise Group

OPPORTUNITIES

Free Telecoms Training Course

26 May to 17 June 2026, John Buddle Work Village, Newcastle

Aim2Learn are offering the chance to learn a trade for free with a fully-funded diploma in Professional Competence for IT & Telecoms Professionals qualification.

The course is for people who are:

• Looking for a new career opportunity
• Interested in practical, hands-on work
• Seeking routes into employment
• Interested in the telecoms industry.

You don’t need any former experience. The course offers a supportive learning environment and is designed to prepare learners who want to go into the IT and telecommunications sector.

The course is open to asylum seekers, 6 months plus active campaign/appealed.

To find out more about eligibility and enrolling, contact Liam Watts at [email protected], or by calling 07301 088639.

Read more about Aim2Learn

CONSULTATION AND ENGAGEMENT

HINENC Digital Inclusion Forum

8 June 2026, 1.30pm to 3.00pm, online

Health Innovation North East and North Cumbria (HINENC) has been supporting the efforts to create a regional digital inclusion forum, and working with partners across the region to co-develop what this might look like. Their next forum brings together existing and future members to continue the discussion and identify best practices that can be shared across the region.

Their next session is taking place Monday 8th June 2026 from 1.30 to 3.00pm.

If you would like to contribute to this session, please contact [email protected]. Please indicate if you have additional needs when you email, and they’ll do their best to help you.

Read more on InformationNOW about about Health Innovation North East and North Cumbria

Help Redevelop Living Well Demonstration Space

Disability North are redeveloping their demonstration area – a place where people can come to look at and try out different support aids, adaptations, equipment and technology.

To help them shape development, they’re gathering feedback from people who use this type of equipment, practitioners who give advice or do assessments, and people who care for or support someone who uses equipment. If this sounds like you, they’d be glad to hear from you.

You can take part in the survey by following this link.

Read more on InformationNow about Disability North

Women and Girls’ Safety When Travelling

Open until 29 May 2026

North East Mayor, Kim McGuinness, and Represent Women are running a piece of research to better understand how women and girls experience safety when moving around the North East. The survey aims to capture the lived experience behind how and when women and girls travel, in order to inform future improvements.

The survey is open now and will run until Friday 29 May.

You can support their work by completing this questionnaire.

Read more on InformationNow about Represent Women

Hearing of Older Adults in the North East

29 May to 30 May 2026, Newcastle University

Are you interested in the language and accents of the North-East of England?  If you are aged 65+ and were raised in Tyneside, Wearside, County Durham or Northumberland, you can take part in a PhD research project exploring the speech, accents and hearing of older people in the region.

This project will look at how speech changes across our lives to help us reconstruct how North-East England may have sounded in the past.

Taking part involves visiting Newcastle University Linguistics Laboratory for a half-day visit to do a range of tasks and record a short audio interview.

Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided!  If you are interested, you can contact the researcher (Scarlett L Hart) via email at [email protected] for further details.

Further information can be found here.

Read more on InformationNow about Newcastle University

Your Views on Food and Culture in Newcastle

Open until 29 May 2026

Newcastle City Council would like to hear the views and perspectives of Newcastle residents and partners on food and food culture in Newcastle.

We want to talk to Newcastle residents, as well as voluntary organisations and system partners to help recommission the Food Newcastle partnership. What people and organisations tell us will help us ‘sense‑check’ the strategic direction of Food Newcastle, clarify expectations about what it does, and to ensure our recommissioning decisions are informed by partners, organisations, and residents’ perspectives on food in Newcastle.

There is a survey you can fill out to help us capture your insights. We’d like to hear from as many people as possible so that a wide range of views and experiences are taken into account.

You will find the survey here.

You can also get a printed copy of the questionnaire or get the information in different formats by contacting [email protected] and [email protected].

If you are interested, please fill out the survey before 29 May.

You can find out more about the Food Newcastle partnership here.

Read more on InformationNow about Food Newcastle

Lit & Phil Survey

Closes 31 July 2026

To kickstart the Development Phase of their National Heritage Lottery Fund project, the Lit & Phil want to learn more about who engages with them, how you use their space, and what your needs and experiences have been. They also want to know who doesn’t engage with the Lit & Phil, and why, so they can do more to welcome all.

They are looking for members, volunteers, visitors and non-visitors to take part in one of two surveys.

One survey for members and volunteers can be found here.

For non-members, visitors or non-visitors, follow this link.

You can then be entered into a prize draw to win either a full year of Lit & Phil membership or entry into a Lit & Phil event of your choice for two people.

REPORTS AND RESOURCES

Q&A with the Mayor and Carers

Carers from local organisations speak with North Easy Mayor Kim McGuinness about issues affecting them

As part of the Mayor Meets programme, Mayor Kim McGuinness recently spent an evening at Newcastle Carers Centre to hold a Q&A session. Unpaid carers had the chance to present a question to the Mayor, focusing on key issues currently affecting them and their caring roles.

The topics covered included: young carers in education, support, wellbeing, transport, welfare, work, and more.

You can watch a recording of the full session to hear Mayor Kim McGuinness’ responses to carers’ questions.

Read more on InformationNow about support for carers

Unpaid Carers and Employment

A new report based on Carers UK research from 2025–26 examines the ‘tipping point’ at which unpaid carers feel they need to give up work in order to care. It explores the key drivers for the tipping point, both within the workplace, and across health and social care systems. It also considers the policies and practice that can prevent the tipping
point from being reached.

Take a look at the report and its findings here.

Take a look at the report and its findings here.

NEW AND UPDATED ON INFONOW

English for All

This month English for All announced that it has closed and ceased all activities.

Running for over 15 years, and becoming an official charity in 2019, English for All has supported many English language learners in Newcastle. They thank their dedicated team of volunteers, and their students, for their participation throughout.

Support to learn English as a second language (ESOL) is still available in Newcastle.

Read more on InformationNow about ESOL

Education Partnership North East