Living the Lantern
The Cathedral’s partnership with Speaking Up Together stems from the Lantern Initiative, which provides practical support for visitors who face various challenges in their daily lives.
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NEWCASTLE CATHEDRAL
NEWCASTLE CATHEDRAL
A BEACON OF LIGHT
Shining a Light on Our History with Speaking Up Together
Published October 2024
Speaking Up Together is a self-advocacy group led by adults with learning disabilities from Gateshead and South Tyneside.
The group first began visiting Newcastle Cathedral in 2022 and has since developed a series of workshops designed for others with learning disabilities.
Derek and Gary, two members of the group, have written articles about their experiences. They also created ‘Easy Read’ information sheets, which are written to be clear and accessible for all people.
The project, titled ‘Access: Newcastle Cathedral’, was supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. An exhibition showcasing the group’s work will be held at the Cathedral during Easter 2025.
“My name is Derek Peters. I am a member of Speaking Up Together. We like to come to Café 16 whenever we visit the Cathedral as the food is fantastic and the staff are very friendly.
“We noticed the ceiling in the café is decorated with stencils. I did some research about stencils for our history course. I did some research about this and did a presentation about stencilling throughout history. After this, we all had a go at doing some stencilling ourselves.
“I think the history course we have been delivering at the Cathedral has been a great success.”
Derek gets busy stencilling
Christine at the stencil workshop
“My name is Gary Devlin. I am the co-chair of Speaking Up Together. For our ‘Access: Newcastle Cathedral’ history project, I did some research on the Lantern Tower. This was built in 1448 and is over 196 (60 metres) feet high – which is quite a long way up!
“For 300 years, a beacon was lit at the top of the tower. This light helped boats navigate their way safely up the Tyne in the dark – like a lighthouse.
“As part of my session, I led a short tour around the Cathedral before we convened in the education room to make our own lantern tea light holders.
“The course has been a good way of learning new information about familiar places we see and pass every day. We have met some new friends and made new connections with staff at the Cathedral. We are looking forward to continuing to work together in the future.”
Gary prepares to make his lantern!
Gary and others get creative
Coming soon: Jess from Speaking Up Together will share what she learned about the Cathedral’s quirky neighbour, the Vampire Rabbit sculpture!