Ten Stalwart members of the group made their way through the afternoon rush hour to the Freeman Hospital, but once there we were enveloped by the atmosphere of calm and capability within the centre. Our host, Centre Head Karen Verrill, a nurse by profession, told us how 18 years ago she had been effectively head hunted to become the Centre Head almost before the building was out of the ground. Karen confessed that at the time of her appointment she had no interest in architecture at all but was now a great enthusiast for her centre and its late architect, Ted Cullinan - ‘A lovely man’, who would take the train from London to ‘drop in’ to see how the completed Centre was progressing.

Karen herself was inspirational, she has a staff comprising expert nurses, psychologists and benefits assistants to provide medical, emotional and practical support to the Centre’s visitors, please note the Centres do not have ‘patients’, or uniformed staff. The centre is open 5 days a week and visitors just walk in, no appointments are necessary; support groups are available within the Centre and on-line via Zoom and WhatsApp as well as one to one sessions. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Karen’s commitment was her description of how, against national policy but in accordance with the strict hygiene protocols in force, she kept her centre open during the pandemic so that terminally ill cancer patients could spend time with their close relatives in their last few days, when they could not do so in hospital.

One other aspect of the design conceived by Ted Cullinan was the intention to achieve a more even balance between male and female visitors, previous centres had a predominantly female 'clientele', so Ted designed a centre with simple robust finishes - polished concrete, blond timber, plain plaster, and brown ceramic floor tiles - and it works, Newcastle has a higher proportion of male visitors than any other Centre.

Picture Credits: Top 2 Images Maggies,org/Cullinan Studio; all others CP/U3A

 One of our member’s questions ‘How much funding do you receive from the NHS?’ elicited this telling answer ‘None, we are a charity and have to raise all of our own funds; it costs £800,000 a year to run this centre we raise it all ourselves. The photographs with this piece will show the quality of the building and its design, I think we all left quietly impressed by the Centre, its architect and the remarkable woman who drives it forward.