A mum who suffered from a brain aneurysm that forced her out of work has praised her local community project for helping her to enjoy life once again.
Mandy, 44, lives on the Pendower Estate in Newcastle where she has brought up her four children, Ryan, 27, Megan, 19, Molly, 17, and Bailey, her six-year-old. Mandy worked as a carer before her “worrying” health scare in June 2022.
She spent just over six months recovering in hospital before she was able to return home - but sadly the effects of the condition meant she was unable to return to work and her mental health suffered.
Thanks to the help of the Pendower Good Neighbour House Project, which has been awarded £15,394 using money raised by Health Lottery North East and Cumbria, Mandy feels she’s able to enjoy life again.
She attends the project’s weekly group for women where community members take part in cookery sessions, crafts, and even a surfing lesson - and Mandy says it has given her a renewed sense of purpose.
Mandy said: “I have worked from a young age and then nearly two years ago I suffered a brain aneurysm and ended up in hospital for six and a half months. I can no longer work which is hard for me as I don’t know anything different and my mental health really suffered.
“I really don’t know what I would do without the group. They have helped me and my children so much.”
Mandy has lived on the Pendower Estate for 40 years and first joined the project, which was set up in 1998, when her eldest son was six.
Since then, all four of her children have enjoyed the activities Pendower offers, including after-school and summer holiday activities.
Project leader Ruth Taylor, 60, said: “The project was first set up by the church and it was about being good neighbours. It’s now grown and we have a house on the estate where we can run our activities.
“At first it was a place where people would come and meet other people, their neighbours, and just talk, but then we introduced play facilities and a play area in the development.
"Now we run a women’s group where we do arts and crafts, cooking, and also physical activities like walks, dancing, bike riding and surfing.
“The children also get to enjoy activities too, and it’s a great way to bring families together, particularly for single mums who struggle to take their children to places on their own – they now all come together as a group and go to soft play or trampolining.”
As a result of the funding raised through The Health Lottery, the Pendower Good Neighbour House Project runs a number of activities for all members of its community.
There is an hour long after-school play session for primary school children and their parents every Monday, and on Tuesdays there is a session for the over 10s. Children can also enjoy a weekly kids’ club for 6-9 year olds as well as a music club for over 7s.
And the adults are fully catered for too. On Tuesday mornings there is a women’s well-being group, and the project also runs a ‘Naughty Nanas knit and natter' group.
The Pendower Estate, which sits west of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and was built to house war heroes from the First World War, now typically houses those who are unemployed or those in low paid or part time jobs.
Community leader Ruth has seen a lot of “ill-health historically” on the estate due to financial and social hardship. She saw a rise in residents struggling with their mental health following the COVID pandemic, including Mandy.
Single mum Mandy said: “[Lockdown] made my mental health worse and I was stuck in the house as we couldn’t go out. I would just look forward to going to the women’s group every week. It has 100 per cent made me feel better in myself. Just having someone to talk to and to be able to get out of the house made so much of a difference to me.”
As well as supporting people with their mental health, such as offering advice and talking groups, the project is also trying to help deal with the economic aftermath of the pandemic.
They have opened a weekly pantry, which offers free or low-cost food such as bread and eggs, in the hope of easing the financial burden on families.
Ruth added: “It is a traditionally poor area made worse by the pandemic, so we do have an open pantry where families can come and get free or very cheap food through us.”
Ruth says the funding raised through The Health Lottery has been “important” and “vital” in keeping their project running.
She explained: "We are a really small organisation with a small team, and even though we do our own fundraising, we are still quite limited with what we can do.
"This vital funding helps us out so much. It’s also nice that The Health Lottery appreciates that not all community projects need to be all bells and whistles and they recognise that just having a space where people can come and be together is a good start.
“The core of our project is having a place where people can talk and listen to each other, and also feel listened to, and that’s really, really important.”
