John Lewis Donation Funds North East Children’s Activities
Money raised by John Lewis’ Community Matters Scheme has funded a memorable activity for our children and young people in Yorkshire and The North East.
The scheme, which helps local community groups and charities to fund events or to pay for essential resources, raised a generous £1333 for TACT via a customer vote using ‘tokens’ in the John Lewis Newcastle store.
Upon hearing of the donation, Stephanie Naylor – TACT’s Deputy Area Manager for The North East, said: “The team were thrilled to receive the donation and were very grateful to be given the opportunity to use the funds towards an event where our young people will have some great experiences.
“We would like to extend a big ‘thank you’ to John Lewis Newcastle for nominating us, and to all the customers who chose to allocate such a generous donation.”
The team wanted to be sure that the activities would appeal to all age groups, so decided to allocate part of the donation to a trip to Mission Out in Leeds for our older young people – which took place on 24th July 2025.
The day involved high ropes, rafting, swings, obstacle course and slides.
Stacie, our Children’s & Young People’s Wellbeing Practitioner for Yorkshire & North East, said: “The day went amazing; the weather was great. The activities really pushed the teens out of their comfort zone and they were working as a team on some of the activities. This made them so proud of themselves for completing them or at least giving them a go.
“The boys said the best part of the day was meeting our new children’s resource worker, Phil. He had come along to support the event and really made the effort with the teens to find something they could both relate to. The boys are looking forward to seeing him at future events.”
“I had one young person attend who had not engaged much with TACT events, but now he is thriving due to building friendships with other children. He is wanting to engage in all events going forward so this has done wonders for his confidence!”
Stacie – Childrens & Young People’s Wellbeing Practitioner – Yorkshire & North East
All our young people thoroughly enjoyed the trip, and feedback has been very positive. Getting to meet new people and forming bonds was a common theme. One young person said: “I found the event fun and saw it as a great opportunity to meet other people my age and get to know them more.”
Our Yorkshire and North East teams are currently consulting with our younger children in order to finalise an event relevant to their age group.
A big thank you to John Lewis, their customers, and the TACT Yorkshire and North East teams for making these wonderful events happen for our young people.