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BBC Tyne Shearer kick starts new Centre 4th April 2008
As a young boy, Alan Shearer used to kick a ball around the back lanes in Gosforth where he grew up. He was back in the area on Friday 4 April 2008 to officially open the Trinity Centre on the High Street. The £3.25m building is the result of a two-year redevelopment project of Trinity Church which has involved the church being expanded to include a cafe, leisure and community facilities.
A plaque was unveiled and the Newcastle legend cut a
ribbon to officially open the centre before he was taken on a tour of
the building and met some of the people who were using it. He said: "My nan and grandad used to live next door to the church. "Hours and days were spent running up and down Ivy Road." He also recalled kicking a football in the back lane. Shearer was shown around the centre by Pastor David Bedford of Trinity Church and the centre's manager Julie Blackie. He met and spoke to some of the people who are using the centre and also told of his Sport Relief work when he visited Uganda and took part in a gruelling cycling challenge with presenter Adrian Chiles.
The pair cycled 335 miles from Newcastle to London, via
West Bromwich, in only two days. Shearer said the trip to Uganda would always stay with him. He said: "I went over there and it just opened my eyes." He said he was struck by how happy the people were and how they encouraged him and it had made him realise that any problems he might face would not be so big in comparison. He said: "It will stay with me the rest of my life." The aim of the centre is that it will become a focal point for the community. The project dates back eight years when the three churches on Gosforth High Street came together on the Trinity site. The £3.25m was raised through local fundraising, funding from trusts and the sale of the other church buildings. Pastor David Bedford said: "People talk about Gosforth 30 years ago and they say it was a much brighter, it was quite a thriving High Street and then it kind of dipped. "But actually now it's going to come back up again and we are seeing that already on the High Street." He said the whole project was for Gosforth and wanted it to be used by everyone. And he said he was delighted that Alan Shearer had opened the centre, especially with his links to Gosforth.
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Newcastle
United legend Alan Shearer returned to the area where he grew up when he
officially opened a £3.25m centre in Newcastle.