Gateway Studio has received funding from Architectural Heritage Fund, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Garfield Weston Foundation, Foyle Foundation, and Samares Trust to transform the Trinity Centre on Gateshead High Street into a centre of arts, heritage and community.​

Initial funding received in 2019 allowed Gateway Studio to develop plans to acquire, restore and convert the Grade I-listed former church, which is currently in a poor state of repair, into a contemporary space which will also include office accommodation and studio hire.

Plans for activities and interpretation have also been developed that will provide opportunities for people to engage with the heritage of the building for the first time.

Part of the development will see the stained-glass window restored to its former glory by a specialist company.

There are also plans for a ‘Bell Tower Café’ which will serve healthy and nutritious food during the day, and on weekend evenings showcase local talent through open mic nights, acoustic sets and art exhibitions.

The building, on one of Gateshead’s oldest sites with the adjacent St Edmund’s Chapel dating back to the thirteenth century, will be a focal point on Gateshead High Street for the local community.

The Trinity Centre was previously an Anglican place of worship called Holy Trinity church. It was formally closed for regular public worship in 1972. It is attached to St Edmunds chapel which remains in worship use. In 1980 Holy Trinity was appropriated to use as a cultural and community centre and for ecclesiastical purposes of the parish, via a scheme under ecclesiastical law.  The scheme empowered the Durham Diocesan Board of Finance to lease the building for these purposes but did not authorise its sale.

Gateway Studio now wish to acquire the freehold of the building. The Church Commissions will shortly publish a draft Pastoral (Church Buildings Disposal) Scheme under the provisions of the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 and invite the public and a list of statutory consultees to comment on the proposal to sell the building to them for the proposed project. If there are no representations against the draft scheme, the scheme will be made, and the sale will be authorised. If representations against the draft scheme are received, the Church Commissioners Mission, Pastoral and Church Property Committee will consider the issues raised and decide if the scheme should go ahead or not. Church of England Measures have the same force in law as Acts of Parliament. Further information can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/parish-reorganisation-and-closed-church-buildings/closed-churches

A submission is also being made by Gateway to the Diocese of Durham, for the purpose of ensuring proposals will meet with the requirements of faculty jurisdiction. A faculty is a form of ecclesiastical permission and is required before any works can be carried out to Church of England churches and burial grounds, and is needed here as the proposed project affects St Edmunds Chapel.

​As one of the few dance-centred arts organisations in the North East, and the only professional dance organisation in Gateshead, we are delighted to be able to grow our organisation and offer our community a range of dance based classes and activities as well as new reasons to visit us on the High Street.