Ellie's Celebration of Stanley

Youth Social Action / Celebrating Stanley / August 29th, 2025

Ellie's Celebration of Stanley

I never knew there was so much history in Stanley. I always thought it was just a random, boring town that had always been here. I did know a bit about the mining history because I live in Quaking Houses, which used to be a mining village. But, I had no idea about Stanley’s involvement in the FA Cup or anything like that. Learning all of this made me realise that Stanley actually has a rich and interesting past.

Right now, though, Stanley feels boring. It seemed like it had more spirit back then, and now people just think of it as a rough area. For the future, I’d like that to change. I think we need to bring back that sense of community that used to exist. We could do that by organising festivals, events, and things that bring people together.

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“It’s a shame there’s no football ground or community space where people can go to enjoy themselves. Having something like that could really help rebuild community spirit and give people a reason to feel proud of Stanley again.”

- Ellie McGuire

Consett Heritage Project / March 12th, 2025

Delves Lane Primary School Poetry Anthology Part 3

The children at Delves Lane Primary School learnt about the history of the Consett Steelworks and developed their understanding of the impact that the steelworks closure had, and continues to have, on the community. They created paintings, poems and decorated a quilt. Each group chose a photo relating to the Consett Steelworks, and wrote their own poems using poetic techniques. We hope you enjoy them!

Youth Social Action / July 21st, 2023

Shining a Light on Consett Youth – Highly Commended at the NE Charity Awards

As a Consett based charity, Building Self-Belief, were delighted to have made it to the North East Charity awards final on July 19th 2023, in the category of Outstanding Contribution to Social Change for their work with their Consett Youth Panel.

Consett Heritage Project / June 15th, 2023

Alan Swinburne- Consett Heritage Podcast

Alan worked at the Steelworks for 17 years in the Technical Research Department. Over the last 20 years he has researched the History of the Steelworks given several talks about his memories of his life at the Works. He also has an extensive collection of photographs and memorabilia from the steelworks.