Originally shot on black and white reel-to-reel video a film produced in association with Swing Bridge Video about Intercare, a community involvement project set up by the Church of England Board of Social Responsibility to look at some of the social issues facing Tyneside in 1980. The film looks at how Intercare is helping school leavers from Blakelaw Comprehensive find work at a time of high unemployment, help single parents living at Newbiggin Hall find safe and secure accommodation and...

Originally shot on black and white reel-to-reel video a film produced in association with Swing Bridge Video about Intercare, a community involvement project set up by the Church of England Board of Social Responsibility to look at some of the social issues facing Tyneside in 1980. The film looks at how Intercare is helping school leavers from Blakelaw Comprehensive find work at a time of high unemployment, help single parents living at Newbiggin Hall find safe and secure accommodation and help residents of Longbenton modernise their homes with the setting up of an advise shop on the estate. Title: Intercare High-rise tower blocks and the roofs of houses in the Newcastle area changes to a meeting of the Church of England Board of Social Responsibility. From the roof of a nearby building the noticeboard outside St Andrew’s church can be seen on Newgate Street in Newcastle, the home of Intercare, the Board of Social Responsibilities community involvement programme. The camera pulls back to reveal the Newcastle skyline and the Priest in charge at St Andrew’s, the Reverend Geoffrey Smith, standing on the roof explaining the origins and purpose of Intercare which was to employ a team of five people to work with the church on project to do with single-parent families and the young unemployed in the Blakelaw, Newbiggin Hall and Longbenton areas of the city. A member of the Intercare team comes out of Blakelaw Comprehensive school in the West End of Newcastle walking along street and knocking on the door of a house, a teenage boy appears at the door. As he walks, the man employed by Intercare explains his work with unemployed school leavers and provides details on the social issues facing the area. Back at Blakelaw Comprehensive a newspaper headline from the Daily Mirror about the school and the issues of youth unemployment in the area; the headline reads ‘Hands Up All Those With a Relative on the Dole..’. The photograph accompanying the reports shows everyone in the class has their hands up. A group of boys kick about a ball on school grounds changes to two high-rise tower blocks. Five girls arrive at Blakelaw Comprehensive going into its Community Room. Inside some play table-tennis while at a table another Intercare worker shows a boy how to load a camera with film and in a darkroom shows him how to develop photographs. The worker leads a group discussion with the teenager to decide who would participate in the film. Sitting on a sofa three girls talk about the issues they have about leaving the area to find work and what age they will be when they get married. Sitting between the older teenagers, a younger girl sits quietly. An estate of council houses at Newbiggin Hall changes to a single mother talking about the lack of childcare facilities in the area and how this affects her ability to find work. Outside St Wilfrid’s Church on Trevelyan Drive a young man holds a microphone for the local priest, the Reverend Richard Ford, who talks about the history of Newbiggin Hall and the lack of facilities or amenities there. Local people wonder around a nearby shopping precinct with a hardware store, an off licence and a ‘Greggs of Gosforth’ bakery. Children play and ride past on bicycles. An Invacar is parked under a modern building changes to a large playing field on the southside of estate, in the distance a series of three-storey maisonettes with children playing in the playground of a nearby primary school. On the west end of the estate a row or private houses changes to the east end and three large apartment blocks known as Eastgarth build around a square where mainly single parents live. A boy kicking a ball about changes to three young women talking about how they ended up living in these maisonettes, the estates poor reputation and the lack of facilities for single parent families as well as problems with trying to find alternative housing. Sitting on a park bench the Reverend Geoffrey Smith chats with Jim Robertson who teaches community work at Newcastle Polytechnic, now Northumbria University. He is a member of the Board of Social Responsibility, and the two men talk about some of the issues raised, both practical and theological, with regards the Intercare project. From an apartment inside a block of flats views looking out across local authority housing on the Longbenton estate. Nearby a precinct with one of the buildings having a hoarding in the window reading ‘Longbenton Advice Shop’. Boys play around a block of three storey flats, many of the windows boarded up. Another block of flats with no boarded-up windows and washing blowing in the wind along a walkway. In the distance a high-rise tower block. Interview with local councillor Bill Forster about how the area became an overspill estate for people from other areas of the city. He also talks about the issue of infill accommodation as well as being critical of the main political parties during the time of the estates development not building additional facilities. A group of boys play football outside the precinct where the ‘Longbenton Advice Shop’ is based changing to St Peter and St Pauls Catholic church along Bardsey Place in Longbenton. Interview with Father Sean Connerty from the church about the area’s social issues and the establishment of the ‘Longbenton Advice Shop’ and its function within the community today and into the future. A man walks along the precinct going into the ‘Longbenton Advice Shop’ and speaks with a younger man sitting at a desk. Interview with Pat from North Tyneside Careers Service about the reasons behind her working from the advice shop, while she speaks a colleague in another room gives advice to a local youth. Councillor Bill Forster again talks about the shop and its important work with the local community. The film ends in a montage of clips taken from this film with the question being asked, should the church be prepared to under-write the Intercare budget to promote a community involvement programme? Title: Intercare a community involvement programme Title: Newcastle Diocesan Board of Social Responsibility Credit: Produced by Hugh Kelly End credit: VTR Editing College of Arts and Technology