Riverside Community Health Project

Riverside was set up in the early 1980s as an innovative child health project to tackle the links between poverty and health issues in the West End of Newcastle.

We have sustained a strong presence in West Newcastle enabling people in the community trust us and our work. Most people come to us from Benwell & Scotswood and Elswick wards, though many come from neighbouring wards. Some travel to us from elsewhere in the city and beyond.

Our base in Carnegie Building opened as Benwell Library in 1909. When the local authority closed the library in 2010 Riverside took over management of the building. Since then we developed Carnegie Building into an accessible community Hub for people of all ages.

Riverside’s mission is for the West End of Newcastle to be a healthy thriving community.

To achieve this vision we believe we all need to come together with local people and organisations to improve the health and wellbeing of disadvantaged communities.

Inequalities and poverty have negative health effects for people in the West End of Newcastle. We can best address these effects through collective action that focuses on community support and community development principles.