
What we’re about
Welcome to North East Culture & Conversation! 👋
This is a new social group for meeting and mingling with potential new friends in lovely locations, and bonding over shared interests. It’s aimed at the 20s, 30s and 40s age range.
Here you’ll find coffee gatherings, board game meets, dinners, a cake club offering convivial chatter for those with a sweet tooth, and some fun days out too. From time to time, we may offer some cocktail events and parties to bring everyone together, as well 🍸🍷🥳.
Our Adventures in Art 🖼️ events centre around not just visiting museums and galleries, but also trying out new creative skills such as life drawing and pottery painting. There are other cultural activities to try out too, such as theatre trips and live music events. For those who enjoy cross-stitch, crochet or knitting with a side of chitchat, come and join our Stitch and B*tch🪡🧵😉 …
We host two book clubs - one for fiction and one for non-fiction - take your pick or try both! We also offer film club events from time to time, which skew towards foreign, cult and indie movies. It’s great if you want to engage in thought provoking discussion! 📚🎬
Sometimes we attend talks and lectures too, on various subjects: science, history, psychology, classics and more! It’s a great opportunity to learn something new and explore ideas together 🤓.
Our events are primarily based in Newcastle and the surrounding areas, but sometimes we’ll venture a little further afield for day trips and some special adventures! If you’re interested in helping out with hosting in Durham, Sunderland or Northumberland, let us know as we’d love to branch out to offer events for young people there as well. If you have any ideas for new events, too, we are certainly open to suggestions ☺️.
We do ask that members use their first name rather than an initial on their profile, and recommend using a recognisable photo of themselves. We are all here to meet with new people face to face! Clarity about who you are when you show up helps both the organisers and the members 😊.
The group is fuelled on the values of friendliness, kindness and mutual respect. We are all adults, so let’s act like it 😉! Bigotry, harassment and abusive behaviour won’t be tolerated. We aim to foster a pro-social environment, so try to be considerate of your fellow members.
Now let’s have some fun 🤩!
Upcoming events (3)
See all- Book Club: The Beach by Alex Garland ☀️🏝️Centurion Bar, Newcastle
Whether you’re a true bookworm or simply seeking a motivation to get reading more often, the book club is a great place for conversation and meeting new people! Come and enjoy some interesting discussion alongside more relaxed chatter, with the book as the jumping off point.
🗣️📖
This time, we’ll be reading The Beach by Alex Garland. We follow Richard, a backpacker who is in Thailand searching for a legendary, idyllic, isolated beach untouched by tourists, and his time there in the backpacking community …🏝️🇹🇭
Described as "Lord of the Flies for Generation X" and "furiously intelligent", we'll be discussing themes like escapism, utopia and community dynamics in what The Sunday Times deemed “a white knuckle ride into the heart of darkness”! ☀️🤯
The book was adapted into a popular film in 2000 starring Leonardo DiCaprio 🎬. Garland has since established a prolific film career as a writer (28 Days Later 🧟♀️, Never Let Me Go) and director (Ex Machina 🤖, Annihilation 👽, Men), so this is also a chance to see where he began and compare the novel’s view on humanity to the ones presented in those works!
The Centurion is a relaxed, elegant and spacious bar with comfortable seating and a quiet atmosphere, well-suited to literary conversations! 📕🍷
Converted from the historic first class lounge at Central Station 🚂✨, its luxuriant environs are situated at ground floor level, easily accessible, with public transport links aplenty nearby. If you’re feeling peckish there are various shops adjacent that you can pick up nibbles from.
This is an open session, so feel free to drop by at any time during the evening: we’re pretty easygoing ☺️.
Hope you can join us 📚!
- 🏸 Badminton & Baklava: Round Two! 🍽️Nucastle , Newcastle
💫 After the wild success (no injuries and full bellies ☺️) of last month’s 2-in-1 Badminton and Food adventure, we’re bringing it back for another swing—because nothing says bonding like a few rallies followed by way too much feta!
‼️IMPORTANT:‼️
If you’re joining us for the meal, please comment within your RSVP by 25th July so we can give the restaurant a heads-up (they like us, so let’s keep it that way)Where’s the food this time? 🤔🍕🍜🥘🥟
We’re returning to Kafeneon—yes, again! 😂 What can we say? The people (and our taste buds) have spoken. It’s one of Newcastle’s most loved Greek restaurants, and frankly, we’re just in it for the gyros 🤩Why should you come? 🗣️🤗
These events are a great way to socialise off-court, meet new folks, and discover who can finish their main before Harry 😭🕐 Time & Place:
• Badminton: 1–2pm 🏸
• Food (optional but recommended for your soul): 2:30–4pm 🥘
• Meet-up: NUCASTLE - Newcastle United Foundation foyer at 12:50pm sharp so we can get to the court on time (fashionably late doesn’t work with court bookings) 👔👖💸 Cost:
• Badminton: The venue charges £10 per court in advance. If you’d like to chip in, there’s a link below for voluntary contributions.
https://pay.collctiv.com/newcastle-culture-and-conversation-badminton-meetup-group-68666
• Food: You pay for what you eat.🏸 BYOR (Bring Your Own Racket)
Need to borrow one? Just drop us a note in your RSVP comments.🍽️ Kafeneon Highlights Include:
🥙 Tender chicken skewers
🍖 Slow-cooked beef perfection
🌯 A mouthwatering selection of gyros and pita wrapsCome for the smashes, stay for the souvlaki—see you there! 🥳