Singer-songwriter Sting has praised the galleries and gig venues that inspired him to pursue his dream when he was growing up in north-east England.

The Wallsend-born musician has thrown his weight - and cash - behind fundraising for a £10m Endowment Fund to sustain "creative futures on Tyneside" at the Baltic Arts Centre in Gateshead.

Ahead of an intimate gig at the venue in front of fellow donors, Sting said he did not know what he wanted to be growing up, but access to the arts lit a passion inside him.

"I didn't want to work at the shipyard, I didn't want to work in the coalmine, I had no idea, but art gave me some sort of clue as to what I would aspire to be," he told the BBC.

The 74-year-old said that, as a youngster, venues across Newcastle offered him access to the world of art.

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