Beacon NE is one of six Beacons for Public Engagement, university-based partnerships that are working to support, recognise, reward and build capacity for public engagement. We are a partnership between Newcastle University, Durham University and the Centre for Life – our other partners include schools, businesses, museums, voluntary organisations, charities, community groups and other public sector organisations.

Funded by the UK Higher Education Funding Councils, Research Councils UK and the Wellcome Trust, we are dedicated to:

• improving the quality of research by bringing together academic experts with ‘experts by experience’ from outside the academic world
• working with local communities on research which solves real problems and makes a difference to people in the North East and beyond
• supporting and promoting public engagement at Durham and Newcastle universities

2012 UPDATE: As a pilot initiative, Beacon NE officially came to an end in December 2011.  We are writing up our final reports and case studies and we continue to work in partnership to ensure public engagement remains a focus at all three institutions.  We will keep you all posted in coming weeks but for now, any queries about Beacon NE can be directed to Newcastle University's Engagement Manager, Kate Hudson: kate.hudson@ncl.ac.uk or 0191 2228312.  You can keep up to date with national developments in engagement with our friends at the National Co-ordinating Centre (NCCPE).

We would ike to say a huge thank you to all of the people who made the four-year project happen  - our funders, other UK Beacons, the NCCPE, project staff past and present and of course, the individuals, organisations and communities we work with.