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Who are we?

St Anthony of Padua Community Association is a local charity and registered company which was formally established in 1986 serving the community of the east end of Newcastle.

We are supported by a dedicated group of volunteers who have a range of skills and expertise to share with our service users.

We are a not for profit organisation and are led by a Board of committed Trustees. We employ over 100 staff, the vast majority of which live in the community we serve.

We were rated Outstanding by CQC in 2018 and at our recent inspection in 2023 maintained our Outstanding rating, you can see the full report here: https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-115716773

The team and our Trustees

We're all proud to work at St Anthony's and the work we do.

Meet the team

A bit about our history

St Anthony of Padua Community Association was founded in 1979 by the late Father Michael Conaty MBE.

Father Michael was the Parish Priest in Walker based at St Anthony of Padua RC Church. In setting up the Association Father Michael was responding to the impact the closure of the shipyards was having on the local community and the rising levels of unemployment. Father Michael saw a need to offer alternative training to support people into employment and to challenge growing levels of poverty. He began by converting what was the old Walker RC school building, adjacent to the church on Welbeck Road into a Community Centre which continues to be at the heart of our organisation today.

A Timeline of St Anthony's

The converted “Community Centre”, which formally opened in 1981, provided a base from which much needed support was provided. We still deliver our day care services from the community centre to this day.

 

St Anthony of Padua Community Association became a registered Charity and limited Company in 1986.

 

During the mid-80’s, St Anthony’s made their first steps into providing care through a “luncheon club” at the community centre, specifically for older people who were isolated and vulnerable. By the early 90’s the Day Care Service was successfully awarded the Day Care contract which Newcastle City Council which we have continued to secure. We are also commissioned by North Tyneside Council.

 

In 1995 we developed and extended our services into the community with the introduction of our Home Care service. We were first commissioned by Newcastle City Council in the late 90’s to provide home care and we continue to be successful in securing the home care contract for the East End of the city. We also provide home care to some residents of North Tyneside.

 

We opened Assisi House in 2014 through the innovative conversion of the former St Francis of Assisi Church located in Walkergate. It provides 16 spacious apartments designed for couples of single persons over 55 years of age who require care and support to continue living independently.

 

In 2018 we were awarded “outstanding” by CQC and we also started the journey to create Conaty House by demolishing the old John Boste building, to create the a more modern and effective space for our youth service beside the church, and used the previous land to build Conaty House which opened in November 2019. Similar to Assisi House, it provides 30 spacious apartments designed for couples of single persons over 55 years of age who require care and support to continue living independently.

 

The Garden Project began in 2020 when we secured funding by the Kellet Fund to develop the presbytery garden into a space for people to meet and engage in new activities. The Garden is currently thriving and we are delighted to have secured funding until at least 2024 to support this important project.

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News Updates

    Next Door Nature Project

    We are working with the Northumberland Wildlife Trust alongside their Next Door Nature Project. They visited us back in December, on a very frosty mor...

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    Volunteer Opportunities Available

    We are always looking for new volunteers to help at St Anthony's Day Centre and in the Garden Project.   Please see our jobs page or get i...

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    Contact information

    St Anthony of Padua Community Centre
    Welbeck Road
    Walker
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE6 3BT

    0191 234 5775

    admin@anthonycareservices.org.uk