'North East made me who I am and I'm proud of those roots – now I want to give something back'

Sting makes 'major donation' to Baltic and says governments 'wilfully' neglected North East

- DANIEL HALL

STING has made a “major donation” to the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art as he told the BBC that the North East has been “wilfully neglected by successive governments for decades.” His donation kicks off an ambitious initiative to raise £10m for the gallery's Endowment Fund.

It is hoped that the fund will allow Baltic to keep access to its exhibitions and programmes free of charge, as rising costs threaten its ability to offer free entry. The announcement comes after the End Child Poverty Coalition's annual figures showed 120,600 children in the North East mayoral area – 30% of its young people are growing up in poverty.

The Wallsend-born singer, who received the Freedom of North Tyneside in November 2023 and is an honorary patron of the gallery, will give an exclusive performance and Q&A at Baltic’s Fundraising Gala in October, alongside Sunderland’s Nadine Shah to an audience of philanthropists and patrons of the arts to further support the initiative.