| Youth Wall | Stained Glass Window | What We Do | Trustees | Staff |
Our History
Our organisation was formed in 1993 by a small group of local residents who intended to take action relating to some of the problems that their community was facing. They based their operations in the flats in Peacock Street and while they were there they managed to obtain the services of a Community Youth Worker.
They soon realised that their current centre for operations was unsuitable and so they rented a room in the Pallion Residents Association; this is when they started to accept membership to the group and acquired the services of an Admin Worker and Youth Leader and ran a Youth Club in St Luke's Church.
The building that was in the current location of PAG, a former Pallion Institute erected in 1893 for local people to better themselves, was rented at first and then funding was sought and obtained from sources including One North East and SRB5 to allow us to purchase and rebuild.
In 1999, during the work on the new building, a bottle was found in the foundations containing clues as to how the original building came about. This consisted of a rolled up newspaper (unidentified) detailing how Liberal Councillors gave their backing to John Short for the building of the Centre and his donation towards the construction. Martin Routledge, who was at that time Assistant Keeper of Social History of Sunderland Museum, said "putting a newspaper in a bottle was the Victorian equivalent of creating a time capsule". We placed a time-capsule of our own in the foundations during the construction of the new building
The new building was opened in 2000 and the Youth Wall on the exterior of PAG building was designed by young people who attended the Youth Club when the building was founded and contains a lot of their names.
The Youth Wall
Norman Clementson, who was PAG's first treasurer, sadly passed away in 2011. In commemoration of his service to PAG, it was decided to replace the plain round window in the IT Suite with a stained glass window depicting some of Sunderland's industrial and local heritage
| Stained Glass Window |
| dedicated to the memory of Norman Clementson |
What we do
We are a resource for the community, adopting a community development model to meet community needs.
PAG is situated in one of the most deprived areas of Sunderland and currently operates a variety of projects and prides itself on offering a wide and diverse range of recreational and educational opportunities for the WHOLE Community.
We provide or facilitate courses for people of working age to enhance their employability and for everyone for social or recreational purposes. These courses can be arranged by PAG or by external sources and are quite often free of charge to the service user. The courses can be accredited or non-accredited and can vary in length from a couple of hours to as long as a few weeks. Recently we have had a good interest in these courses:
- CSCS
- Employability Skills
- Functional Skills
- Food Safety
- Health and Safety L2
- Manual Handling
- Conversational Spanish for beginners
- First Aid at Work
Management Structure
 Karen Noble Manager |
Employed at PAG since May 2005 Qualifications: Operations/Development Manager Level 5, PTLLS Level 3, Managing Community and Voluntary Organisations Level 3, Professional Trainers Certificate, Prevent Training, Level 2 in Advice & Guidance Support |
karen.noble@pallionactiongroup.co.uk 0191 5142011 |
 Judith Newham Finance Officer |
Employed at PAG since August 2018
First Aid at Work |
judith.newham@pallionactiongroup.co.uk 0191 5142011 |
 Helen Walker Receptionist |
Employed at PAG since
January 2009 NVQ L3 in Business and Administration NVQ L3 in Customer Service |
helen.walker@pallionactiongroup.co.uk 0191 5142011 |
 Wayne Noble Health and Safety |
Employed at PAG since July
2019 IOSH Managing Safely, Working at Heights, First Aid at Work |
wayne.noble@pallionactiongroup.co.uk 0191 5142011 |
 Gary Calder Senior Adviser |
Employed by PAG since
August 2009 Information Advice and Guidance L2, First Aid at Work, Universal Credit Training (FISCUS) |
gary.calder@pallionactiongroup.co.uk 0191 5142930 / 07830615938 |
 Sam Ayre Triage Worker |
Employed at PAG since
September 2019 Information Advice and Guidance L2, WiserAdviser Units, Community Ambassador Training, A Life Worth Living Certificate (Suicide Prevention), Prevent Training, NVQ L2 in Business and Administration, L2 Certificate in Awareness of Mental Health Problems, L2 Certificate in Business and Administration Knowledge |
samantha.ayre@pallionactiongroup.co.uk 0191 5142930 |
 Karen Cutter BBO Job Coach |
Employed at PAG since
December 2014 Level 3 PTLLS, BTEC L3 in Management, L4 Diploma in Counselling, Alcohol Intervention, First Aid at Work |
karen.cutter@pallionactiongroup.co.uk 0191 5142011 / 07495523273 |
 Kay McCready BBO Job Coach |
Employed at PAG since
February 2017 L2 Certificate in Awareness of Mental Health Problems, Alcohol Intervention |
kay.mccready@pallionactiongroup.co.uk 0191 5142011 / 07378311824 |
 Emma Sloan CLLD Co-ordinator |
Employed at PAG since March
2018 County Lines Awareness, Prevent, Awareness of Domestic Violence, Safeguarding, Awareness of Female Genital Mutilation, Children and Young People's Mental Health Awareness, Challenging Behaviours Level 1, First Aid at Work, Alcohol Intervention |
emma.sloan@pallionactiongroup.co.uk 0191 5142011 / 07308124182 |
 Caitlin Robson - Support Worker |
Our new worker is Caitlin who has overcome so much to be where she is today including being care experienced. Caitlin was part of one of our projects at PAG and is sharing her story, experiences and journey with other young people to inspire them to be positive and proactive part of our communities. |
caitlin.robson@pallionactiongroup.co.uk 0191 5142011 |
 Hazel Cox Work Coach |
Employed at PAG since March
2020 Bachelor of Arts in Performance Arts Studies, PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education), Level 2 in Adult Learning Support, Level 2 in Youth Work |
hazel.cox@pallionactiongroup.co.uk 0191 5142011 |
 Somia Salman Community Support Worker |
Employed at PAG since June
2021 NCFE L3 in Supporting Teaching & Learning Master of Science in Botany [Pakistan=British Bachelor (ordinary) Degree Standard] Bachelor of Science [Pakistan=GCE 'A' Level] Higher Secondary School Certificate Education [Pakistan=GCSE Grades A*-C] |
somia.salman@pallionactiongroup.co.uk 0191 5142011 |
 Rob Charlton Community Hub Co-ordinator |
Employed at PAG since
September 2020 |
rob.charlton@pallionactiongroup.co.uk 0191 5142011 / 07832621646 |
 Debbie Dodds Community Hub Co-ordinator |
Employed at PAG since
November 2020 |
debbie.dodds@pallionactiongroup.co.uk 0191 5142011 |
 Ken Newby IT Support |
Employed at PAG since September 2021 | ken.newby@pallionactiongroup.co.uk |
