Celebrate Difference at The Hub, Consett

Around this time two years ago, I was posting very regularly about this new space that was coming in Consett. I say that I was saying it two years ago, I’ve talked about it a lot since and I’ve been just amazed by it ever since. It’s not something that’s just happened two years ago and not happened since, far from it, but realised I haven’t done a more recent shout out, just because the things that I’ve been shooting there have been slightly different to what they were originally. 

The Hub in Consett now is I think, just over two years old, they had a birthday the other week and the evolution of the old Brae’s pub into what Nicola’s created is just absolutely ridiculous! It is ridiculous! I remember going in there before Nic had got the keys even, with her obviously, I didn’t just break in! And to see the place that had near enough been abandoned for a significant part of time and to not be able to see the vision; I couldn’t see what Nic was trying to do, it was a lot of rooms upstairs, this big bar downstairs, with beer bottles everywhere and all this and she could see it and it was fantastic to watch her eyes go round the room and see this space turning into something and it was turning into something that she’s talked to me about for more than 10 years. 

And certainly for that first maybe six months of creating it, she created that thing that she’d been looking at for 10 years. It’s really funny, because since then, the place has evolved way beyond what Nic envisaged, I think. And this is me speaking on Nic’s behalf, but I don’t think she would have seen where the Hub is two years down the line, to where the Hub was in her head for all them years. I think that first six months was what she wanted for all those years and then by having that space and having the opportunities and the doors that opened, you know, we all evolve don’t we, when things come our way and I think to see what it is now, which is sort of the same but sort of different to what was originally envisaged, is just absolutely amazing. I mean that first six months were fantastic to see what she’s done and got the thing that she wanted, but compared to now! 

I mean, I don’t think Nic ever saw having herself a shop downstairs selling all manner of fantastic stuff, from local North East suppliers, to the café that’s producing amazing stuff and getting smiles and so much craziness going on from the locals calling in for a cuppa - to all of the Celebrate Difference stuff, which is just such a mad journey to have seen come through. 

And they now have the Qb Suite. I’ve done my Qb Test, as you all know, as part of my ADHD diagnosis, but I wouldn’t dare tell you how it all goes, so I’d leave that to Nic and her team (and obviously the awesome Tony Lloyd, who’s helping pull all those things together). To have all that in a space that was a pub/nightclub! I can see it as a pub but I still can’t see how it was a nightclub, my eyes don’t work that way. I wasn’t drinking out in Consett as a young whippersnapper, maybe it would have been different had I seen it as a nightclub.
But yeah, as a space, it’s just, I mean, it’s just absolutely fantastic. 

Again, absolute kudos to Nic and the team and Mike for all of his DIY escapades. That’s the longest ‘To Do’ list I’ve seen of anybody’s, is Mike’s, for the building. But yeah, it’s just been absolutely fantastic to see. And I think if you’re ever passing, if you need a hot desk, there’s days that they do hot desking up there; if you ever just want a cuppa, check the calendar for when they’ve got cuppas on and just call in and see it. I mean, it sounds like an Inbetweeners, I want to say that it’s… the vibe it’s got, it’s fantastic. It sounds like Inbetweeners, but it’s difficult to describe how cool a place it is, just for that feeling you get when you walk out of it, and there’s so many people I know that attest to that. 

So, go and have a look at it. This is me waffling on about it more than anything else and it doesn’t do it justice, but I’ll link to the website below, go and have a chat, have a chat with Nic and just call in and see how spaces can evolve from a pub/nightclub to a community resource in a traditional community resource centre, the café and the shop, but also a community resource for the ADHD community in the North East and bringing together experts and resources to help that community that hasn’t really been there in the North East or anywhere.
It’s just such a cool place and I’ve got so many pictures of it, I kind of forget how many pictures I’ve got of it. I might need to pull that together into something at some point. But yeah, go and check out the Hub.

https://thehubconsett.co.uk