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The North Shields Fishermen’s Heritage Project

Newsletter

Issue 1 – September 2016

Raising funds to create a fitting and lasting memorial to Fishermen lost at sea

from the port of North Shields

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Welcome to our first newsletter!

Let’s start off with some great news:

Since our launch on 18 July at The Old Low Light Heritage Centre, we have raised nearly

£9,000 This has been achieved, mainly through the generosity of the people of North Shields and

surrounding areas, particularly at our many “Vote & Donate” days. We’ve been

overwhelmed by the messages of support from local people – as well as the many moving

tales we’ve heard about family members lost at sea from the port. Local and International

businesses along with local community groups have also put their hands in their pockets to

help boost our fundraising efforts – and there are more in the wings, which we’ll tell you

about in future Newsletters, so watch this space!

What this says to all of us at NSFHP is that this memorial is very much wanted by the people

of the area and is long overdue! So rest assured we’ll all be working extremely hard to bring

this project to a successful conclusion – read on for more information about our future

plans and events.

Fundraising Dividend from The Co-op!

The North Shields Fishermen’s Heritage Project (In conjunction with The Old Low Light Heritage Centre) has just been approved as a cause for the Co-op Local Community Fund initiative, which runs until 18 March 2017.

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So, how does it work?

Do you live in North Shields? (NE29 postcode) Do you have a Co-op Membership card?

If you do, then access your account here http://www.coop.co.uk/membership/

And just select the Old Low Light Heritage Centre as your chosen Co-op member cause and 1% of the value of any Co-op Branded goods you buy, either in the Bedford Street or Cleveland Road Store, will be donated to help us build a memorial to Fishermen lost at sea! (This doesn’t affect the 5% you also get!)

If you don’t have a Co-op card but would like to become a member sign in via the link above

or in store.

It’s a great way to raise funds for us – and it costs you nothing! Many thanks to Jill and her

Team in Bedford Street, and to James Potts and the Staff at Co-op Funeralcare for putting

us forward, your support is much appreciated.

The Proposed Designs

Since our launch on 18

July 2016 over 2,000

members of the public

have voted on which of

the memorial designs

they would most like to

see from the 8 submitted.

Here’s a reminder of

them.

Online voting will close at

Midnight on Friday

October 14th

Ray Lonsdale - 1

Ray Lonsdale - 2

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John O’Rourke – 3

Richard Broderick - 5

Richard Broderick - 6

Ruaraig Maciver – 7

Ruaraig Maciver - 8

John O’Rourke - 4

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The Memorial Site

The Site for the memorial will be the green area near the red buoy at the fish quay sands.

It’s a lovely open space with a great view out between the piers and will provide a poignant

and fitting aspect for reflection on the lives lost.

In time we’d like to provide seating so that families, friends and visitors can rest awhile as

they remember.

The Memorial will sit right at the heart of the Fish Quay and will add greatly to the ongoing

regeneration of the whole area.

Our intention when we set out on this project was to raise enough money for what we call

a piece of “Destination Art” something the local community can be proud of and which

speaks to everyone about our proud fishing traditions and heritage – bought at such a cost

in terms of those who never returned to port.

We also wanted the final piece to have such a pull, that visitors from outside the area

would get in their cars specifically to come and see it and hopefully spend some time

sampling the delights of the Fish Quay – from the bars and restaurants, to the fish shops –

and of course The Old Low Light Heritage Centre.

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“When the VOTE comes in!”

The winning memorial design will be

announced on:

Saturday 15 October at our music event

At The Exchange, North Shields.

Connor Thomas

Tickets are £5 or £10 each for a table*

(*tables seat up to 8 people – so you could

either fill or table or join others and make

some new friends!)

Tickets are only available from The

Exchange – Tel 0191 258 4111

The Palominos have built up a great

following in the area and those who’ve

seen them say they’ll definitely get you up

on the dance floor with their take on 40’s

Swing, 50’s Rock and Roll and 60’s Beat!

So bring your dancing shoes!

The Palominos will be ably supported by

Connor Thomas – a real emerging young

talent with a unique guitar style. At a

recent North East Guitar show Connor was

described as “An acoustic Guitar Wizard”

and he will be performing alongside

Tommy Emmanuel at The Sage in January

next year.

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Going, going – Gone!

We are having an auction and raffle on

Tuesday 18 October at The Low Lights

Tavern, North Shields

The Low Lights Tavern is North Shields’ oldest pub – it’s a traditional bar with a real community of friends, many of them Real Ale lovers, who have joined a long list of fishermen, career sailors, travellers, merchants and ne’er do wells who have populated the cosy, low ceilinged bar of the Grade II-Listed tavern in its history. The Low Lights Tavern is 50 yards up Brew House Bank, from Union Road on North Shields’ Fish Quay – a mere ‘spit’ from where the memorial to fishermen lost at sea will be sited. Trust us …. You will have a really great night out! There will be live music to kick the night off And if an auction isn’t your thing – we have a raffle being drawn on the night too. Please come along on Tuesday 18 October from 7pm and support us! The Low Lights Tavern Brewhouse Bank Fish Quay North Shields NE30 1LL

If you cannot make it along on the night we are accepting “Commission Bids” – in other words our auctioneer -Bertie Forster will endeavour to obtain your lot as cheaply as possible against the actual bids in the room on the night.

You just need to email us with the following information:

1. The item that you would like to bid for 2. Your Maximum bid (the auctioneer will

secure it at the lowest possible amount for you)

3. Your name, full address and postcode plus telephone number

Our email address is

nsfhproject@gmail.com

We will acknowledge all emails to confirm receipt of your commission bid.

Items for auction are listed here

http://www.nsfhp.org.uk/event/going-

going-gone/

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And Finally…..

We hope you’ve enjoyed this first update – we could have added a lot more but we want to

keep you anticipating what comes next!

You won’t have too long to wait as the next edition will come out shortly after the winning

design is revealed on October 15th – but as you’ll all be at The Exchange anyway you’ll see it

first-hand!

If there’s anything you’d specifically like to see in our Newsletters going forward please let

us know by emailing us at; nsfhproject@gmail.com

If you have any ideas and suggestions on how we could raise funds – please get in touch at

the same email address.

If you would like to donate – please visit our on line Golden Giving page:

https://www.goldengiving.com/secure/donation/north-shields-fishermens-heritage-project

If you would like to donate by cheque please make it payable to:

The North Shields Fishermen’s Heritage Project

Please post it to:-

Terry McDermott (Chairman)

c/o The Old Low Light Heritage Centre

Clifford’s Fort

The Fish Quay

NE30 1JA

Thanks again for all your support and continued interest in our project – all of us at

NSFHP are confident that we will achieve our goal of placing a fitting and lasting

memorial to lost fishermen on the North Shields foreshore.