The Acklam Green Centre welcomed over a hundred children and young people from 11 local schools for a performance of William Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’.

The Year 1 to Year 10 pupils, aged five to fifteen, are from the Middlesbrough Associate Schools.  The group comprises of: Archibald Primary School as Lead School, Abingdon Primary School, Acklam Grange School, Acklam Whin Primary, Berwick Hills Primary, Breckon Hill Primary School, Newport Primary School, Macmillan Academy, Priory Woods School and Arts College, St Thomas More RC Primary and Thorntree Primary.

As part of the Royal Shakespeare Company Associate Schools Project, which is aimed at embedding Shakespeare in education, the participating schools each brought to life a section of the 400 year-old comedy, set on a remote island and revolving around a major act of betrayal and a plot of revenge.   The young thespians took part in two performances to packed audiences in Acklam Green Centre’s large conference hall.

Anita Jefferies, Head Teacher at Archibald Primary School, which led the project, said: “The Royal Shakespeare Company is committed to partnering with Middlesbrough Schools.  The training and support they provide gives pupils amazing opportunities and improves their overall confidence.   Through the Associate Schools Programme, three pupils have now been selected to train with the Royal Shakespeare Company.   It is wonderful that we have the facilities at the Acklam Green Centre to host a festival of this size.”

The performances were attended by families of the children and guests from the local community, including some of the team from Actes.  Sandra Phillips, Chief Executive commented: “All of the performers were absolutely fantastic. To see children as young as five bring to life a Shakespearean classic was really impressive.  We all thoroughly enjoyed it.”

The Acklam Green Centre offers versatile facilities ideal for business events, conference and meetings as well as a base for many community and activity groups.

Sandra added: “It was great to see Acklam Green Centre’s Conference Hall being utilised as a performance space as its’ state-of-the-art soundproofing, sound and light equipment and fully racked seating mean it is ideal for theatrical performances of this kind and we hope to see more local schools and theatre groups making use of the facilities.”

For further information about the Acklam Green Centre contact 01642 811 121.

Acklam Green Centre is hosting Team Building and Corporate Days starting from £35 per person after teaming up with leading events companies offering archery and Bubble Football.

The packages include full event management, hire of meeting room and sports facilities and lunchtime catering and refreshments courtesy of in-house caterers Café Connect. As well as the fixed price packages, which incorporate sporting activity with the experts from North East Archery and Combat and Bubble Football North East, bespoke packages can be arranged upon request.

Donna Smith, facilities manager at Acklam Green Centre, said: “Our unique facilities incorporating professional meeting space, in-house catering and on-site sports pitches mean we’re ideally placed to deliver team building and corporate days.

“We’re pleased to team up with leading events companies as we get set to welcome businesses from across the area over the coming months.”

Members of staff from Actes, which owns Acklam Green Centre and the Resource Centre, recently took part in an archery session to try out the teambuilding activity for themselves. The event also supported Actes’ work towards the North East Better Health at Work programme designed to improve the health and wellbeing of the organisation’s workforce.

For further information about the corporate packages please call 01642 811 137.

The second-floor meeting space at the Acklam Green Centre has been transformed into a large private training and conference suite that can comfortably accommodate up to 60 people in a variety of room layouts.

The suite is completely self-contained with its own kitchen and toilets and is proving popular with business and consumer customers alike, including the local Slimming World group which uses the facility two nights a week.

Donna Smith, Facilities Manager at the Acklam Green Centre, said: “We continue to listen to feedback from our customers who had highlighted a need for an additional training and conference suite to complement our meeting and conference spaces.

“The second-floor office spaces have been adapted and opened out to create one large self-contained space with its own kitchen area and toilet facilities. The room has a lovely light and airy feel and is proving really popular with customers.”

The training suite comes equipped with presentation equipment and wifi and is available to book at full-day, half-day and hourly rates. A range of in-house catering options are also available to book.

For further information about the conference, training and meeting space available at Acklam Green Centre contact 01642 811120

Our in-house caterer Café Connect has expanded its catering offer in response to customer feedback.

New Breakfast Buffet and Afternoon Tea menus have extended the range of catering packages available from Café Connect, after the team took on board feedback from visitors attending conferences, meetings and events at the Acklam Green and Resource centres.

The Breakfast Buffet includes a selection of freshly baked croissants and pastries or hearty bacon or sausage rolls along with fresh fruit and yoghurt. Priced at £3.90 per person, the menu also includes plenty of tea, coffee and orange juice.

Meanwhile, the indulgent Afternoon Tea menu represents fantastic value at £4.50 per delegate and £6 for café customers. It includes a selection of finger sandwiches, savoury and fruit scones served with preserve and whipped cream, a selection of homemade cakes or tray bakes and a choice of tea, coffee or herbal tea.

Café Connect has also extended its hot and cold buffet packages to suit customers’ needs.  The menu now includes three hot buffet options including lasagne, chicken curry and chilli as well as a deluxe hot and cold buffet including sugar baked home roast sliced ham with a selection of salads and quiche. Vegetarian options are also available.

The catering packages include additional healthy items to reflect the organisation’s commitment to the North East Better Health at Work programme, for which it has just received the Bronze Award. 

Donna Smith, facilities manager, said: “We take the views of our clients very seriously and always look for ways to adapt our offer to best meet their needs.

“We get lots of great comments about our catering supplied by Café Connect, however, based on feedback, we thought it was time to revise our offer and introduce some new options for visitors to enjoy. The new Breakfast Buffet and Afternoon Tea menus and tasty new additions to our hot and cold buffets are already proving very popular.”

For further information about catering packages contact 01642 811120 or email info@acklam-green-centre.com

 

 

There has been much excitement at the Acklam Green Centre on the arrival of our new brochures! The brochures are available to collect from reception and provide information regarding our facilities. There are separate inserts depending upon which of our facilities you are interested in such as conferences and meetings, events and functions, flexible office space, cafe and catering, and our room rates are also included.