Alumni donations help to open a second learning centre in our region to inspire local schoolchildren
Following the launch of our IntoUniversity Gateshead centre in November 2025, we caught up with two alumni who have given their financial backing to disadvantaged school children in our region to help them reach their academic potential.
30 January 2026
Gateshead is among the 10% most deprived areas in the country, with the education of local schoolchildren being hit hard – only 28% progress to university compared to the 44% national average.
To combat this, and support children in our region to realise their dreams, Newcastle University has partnered with Northumbria University and national charity IntoUniversity to open a new learning centre in Felling.
IntoUniversity Gateshead joins 45 IntoUniversity centres nationwide which together support over 60,000 young people. The centre offers primary and secondary schoolchildren in Gateshead after-school academic support, mentoring with local university students and professionals, in-school aspiration-raising workshops and enrichment and work experience opportunities.
The centre, which officially opened in November 2025 and is the second in the region managed by Newcastle University, would not have been able to open without the support of alumni donations.
Gateshead-born Dr Keith Gilroy (BSc Chemical Engineering, 1973) and Agricultural Zoology graduate Dr John Atkin are just two of the many alumni and corporate partners supporting IntoUniversity Gateshead. We caught up with the pair recently to explore the impact being the first in their families to go to university had on their life, and what has inspired them to support others like them growing up in the region today.
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“My time on campus opened up my worldview, helped me gain self-confidence and gave me opportunities and friendships which have guided my whole life.”
Dr Keith Gilroy was born in Blaydon in the 1950s, with his childhood being shaped by the repercussions of the Second World War. At the end of his time at Grammar School, many of Keith’s friends were in a hurry to enter the workplace, but Keith’s parents were keen advocates for further education and building a better life. Inspired by memories of seeing his dad attend night school to become a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, Keith enrolled at Newcastle University’s School of Engineering. A decision which was to be the making of him, as he told us:
“I immediately felt at home at Newcastle University. My time on campus opened up my worldview, helped me gain self-confidence and gave me opportunities and friendships which have guided my whole life.”
Shortly before graduating, Keith visited the Careers Office on campus which introduced him to a new field called biomedical engineering. Interested, Keith pursued a PhD in the field at Strathclyde University, before moving across the Pond to Southern California to continue his postdoctoral research. This move led to a successful career Stateside with a range of medical device companies, from which Keith has recently retired.
Bridging the attainment gap
For many of Keith’s peers at school in Gateshead, university was a foreign concept – for other people, not them. And this is often still the misconception for young people growing up in the UK’s poorest areas.
IntoUniversity Gateshead hopes to combat this misconception and help a new generation of Gateshead children reach their potential through education, just as Keith did. And he is supporting us in this mission by donating funds to the day-to-day running of the centre in Felling, as well as providing scholarships to former IntoUniversity pupils who have successfully gained a place on campus to earn their degree. He said:
“Education forged unimagined pathways and opportunities in my life. In contrast, I had several friends at school who were at least as smart as me but left early to find jobs and were unable to realise their full potential because of home circumstances. The chasm to be crossed to university was just too big.
“This is where IntoUniversity fits so well. My support is a small way for me to give back to the place where I grew up, and hopefully others will have the opportunities that I did.”
“Every child deserves a chance.”
Like Keith, Dr John Atkin (BSc Zoology, 1974; PhD, 1979) was the first in his family to attend university. Having grown up in Leeds, John chose Newcastle due to the reputation of its Agriculture department and its relative closeness to his hometown. Having completed his undergraduate degree in 1974 and facing a difficult job market because of the oil crisis, John was offered a PhD funded by the Ministry of Agriculture at Newcastle University, based at Close House. Speaking of his time at Newcastle, John told us:
“Having jumped a year at junior school (which was not a success), I was a young student: I had just turned 18 when I started so I was a bit naive. A standout memory is meeting Paul McCartney at Havelock Hall on that famous occasion, and the biggest lesson I learnt was that ultimately, hard work pays off.”
John was one of the founders and former Chief Operating Officer of Syngenta. A global leader in technology for agriculture and horticulture, Syngenta serves farmers and growers in over 90 countries. Today, John lives in Switzerland with his wife Beverley, with whom he established a charitable foundation that supports IntoUniversity Gateshead among other causes.
Having helped open the doors of our new learning centre in Gateshead with a generous donation, John and Beverley travelled to Gateshead in November 2025 to attend the official launch event. Speaking of their experience, they said:
“The enthusiasm and commitment of the staff was striking. The facility was modern and bright, with motivating messages written by some of the children already enrolled in the programme attached to the walls.
“It was good to see the university caring about this early phase of academic life from the viewpoint of less advantaged members of society. Education is the single most important driver of the wellbeing of individuals and society. It is the foundation of a thriving economy, and people who have had access to a good education are healthier, wealthier and happier than those who have not. For us, the guiding principle is that every child deserves a chance.”
Success across the Tyne
This is the second IntoUniversity centre in the North East that is supported by Newcastle University, with the first opening in Walker in 2021. Last academic year, the Walker centre supported 1,312 local schoolchildren, with 67% of those supported by the centre progressing to higher education – compared with a 12% local average!
Newcastle and Northumbria Universities teamed up to establish the IntoUniversity centre in Walker. They have seen almost 200 students from the centre enrol on campus. As well as donating to the running of the new centre in Gateshead, Keith kindly provides scholarships for some of these students who progress to study at Newcastle University, ensuring they can make the most of their time on campus and have the full university experience.
With thanks
We’d like to say a huge thank you to Dr Gilroy, John and Beverley Atkin and all of the alumni and corporate partners who support the IntoUniversity centres in Walker and Gateshead. Together, we’re inspiring the next generation of Newcastle graduates.
If you are interested in helping schoolchildren in our region realise their ambitions, achieve their academic potential, develop vital skills and gain experience of the world of work, get in touch to discover the ways you can support our IntoUniversity centres.