
The restoration of Whitley Bay Metro station has delivered a boost for the town’s community hub, which has undergone vital renovation work as part of the project.
Kier Transportation, which is part of Kier Group, is the contractor carrying out the £5.3m scheme on Whitley Bay Metro station’s Grade II Listed canopy. We undertook the works with Kier as part of a social value plan, which ensures community engagement while on site.
Volunteers from the two project teams gave up their time to renovate an activity room at the popular venue on Whitley Road. They spent three days painting and decorating the room, which is in the process of being updated to create a much warmer and tidier space for group activities, conferences and meetings.
The Community Hub, a former job centre, is a multi-purpose community space with a cafe, garden and meeting rooms and a food bank. It is run by a local charity called the Whitley Bay Big Local, which acquired the building in 2021 grants funding, including the Government Levelling Up fund and a loan from Charity Bank.
Sarah McManus, Head of Renewals at Nexus, said: “We’re delighted that our project at Whitley Bay Metro station has provided a wider benefit for the local community.
“Metro is at the heart of communities it serves, so it’s great that we have been able to offer these additional works at Whitley Bay Hub in conjunction with our colleagues at Kier. It is a big help to a vital local facility which is run by a charity.
“Our teams gave up their time over the festive period to decorate the upstairs meeting room at the centre. They’ve done a brilliant job and it looks fantastic.
“I’m pleased to say that the canopy works at the Metro station are getting near to completion, and customers are already feeling the benefit since the scaffolding was taken down. We can’t wait for the official completion of the project later this year.”
Rob Harwood, Construction Director at Kier Transportation, said: "It's been an absolute pleasure to support the Whitley Bay Big Local community Hub, with the team working on the Metro station canopy restoration decorating the upstairs function room.
“We're pleased to see the positive impact of volunteering our time and skills to the food bank and community centre, as well as donating goods to such a worthy cause.”
David Carnaffan, Chief Executive at Whitley Bay Big Local, said: “I’m delighted that Whitley Bay Metro Station has been refurbished to such a high standard. It’s great for local residents to have the station updated, without losing its historic appeal.
"We were delighted to welcome volunteers from Kier and Nexus to update the activity space at Whitley Bay Hub. The room has been brightened up, with a new colour scheme and they even updated our windowsills. The volunteers worked very hard over Christmas and New Year, coming in on evenings and Saturdays to get the job finished before we welcomed our groups and activities back in this January.”
The refurbishment of the historic canopy at Whitley Bay Metro station is nearing completion and will be completed by the spring.