It’s all smiles in the community room at the Newcastle Building Society Monument branch. Friends sharing stories over tea and coffee.
They’re the Gup Shop Group – a men’s social group. ‘Gup shop’ is a Hindi phrase for having a friendly chat. The Group do that really well.
Led by Nadeem Ahmad, Engagement Worker for Asian Men at Search Newcastle, they meet every Monday.
Nadeem Ahmad
"My role at Search Newcastle is to engage older Asian men with a range of social activities. The Gup Shop Group helps bring our members out into the community in a comfortable and relaxed environment. It's like coming to your house and having a cup of tea and a chit chat every Monday."
The Group usually meet at a local cafe in the west end of Newcastle. But when they have visitors, they use our Monument community room. It’s quickly become a favourite.
A welcoming space in the heart of the city
Nadeem continues: "Running the Gup Shop Group in Monument helps broaden our members' horizons. It's free-to-use and easy to get to, giving them the opportunity to engage with an environment that they might not have otherwise known about. The calmer and more professional environment is also beneficial when we invite external guests. We work closely with the local university for example, facilitating focus groups with the Asian community for them, and Monument is the perfect place for this."
They’ve recently enjoyed a financial wellbeing talk from our Monument branch team. And using our community room has meant they’ve been able to take part in university focus groups and meet with the Alzheimer’s Society.
They always have new things to chat about and bond over every week.
Pasha, a Gup Shop Group member
"I always look forward to the Gup Shop Group, because I'm meeting people and exchanging views. I also enjoy using the community room at Monument. It’s a new building, the staff are very welcoming, and we have all the facilities to enjoy ourselves, feel free and comfortable, and do our chit-chat."
We have 16 free community rooms across our network of 32 branches. They’re open to local people, charities, and community groups. Use our branch finder to find your local branch and see if it has a community room.
