This Christmas, community stars from up and down the North East are being recognised for their selfless acts of kindness through our 12 deeds of Christmas initiative.
Our annual campaign celebrates the stars in its communities by formally recognising both the good neighbours and community heroes who have gone the extra mile to help others and deserve a big thank you.
One of this year’s community heroes is Letty Davison who runs the Eggcrackers group in Chester-le-Street, County Durham. After an incident where her friend was physically attacked for trying to use a public restroom, Letty decided she wanted to create a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community and anyone with Neurodivergence or additionally abled.
Eggcrackers, named after their mission statement “to bring everyone out of their shell”, meet weekly at REfUSE café in Chester-le-Street to offer peer to peer support and plan events for their members.
On winning the Community Star, Letty said: “After moving to Chester-le-Street just over a year ago, I couldn’t find a Pride group anywhere to join, they all seemed to have folded through lockdown, so I decided I wanted to set one up. The local community have helped me massively to get this off the ground and together we have created a safe space where people can be who they’re supposed to be and don’t have to be afraid to show their colours. I just want to help people.
“I was so shocked to have been named one of Karbon’s 12 community stars. I felt honoured to just be nominated but to win just feels amazing. I am very grateful.”
Through November, we asked people in its communities to nominate individuals or organisations they think deserve a community star. The winners are then selected by a panel of judges and presented with a thank you to the value of £100 in December.
Philip Pollard, Assistant Director of Customer & Community Engagement at Karbon Homes, said: “We’ve been running the 12 deeds of Christmas for several years now and it’s always heartwarming to see the wonderful, selfless acts of kindness that people and groups in our communities do for one another.
“We work with our customers to shape strong, sustainable places for our communities. The 12 deeds initiative is a fantastic way to celebrate community spirit and for people to thank those who have helped to make a positive difference.”
The full list of 12 deeds of Christmas winners:
- Carol Napper, Morpeth – committee member of the WI organising events and trips for members along with transport. Collects and delivers for food banks, delivers papers on the estate and gives lifts to people in the community with limited access to transport.
- Rose Peat, Lynemouth – after the loss of her daughter to cancer, Rose began volunteering for cancer patient care charity Daft as a Brush. She now assists cancer patients with hospital appointments and supports them during their treatments.
- Katherine Miller, Tanga Club, Hexham – founding member of Tanga Club, a charity that supports children with additional needs and their families. Provides a weekly youth club for over 400 beneficiaries, runs parent/carer retreat days and organises an annual trip to Centre Parcs. Katherine does all this while being a parent of a child who has significant care needs.
- Ashleigh Jones, Wallsend – community volunteer providing food parcels and clothing to residents for Support and Grow North East, a charity fighting poverty and social isolation. Works hard to ensure those in her community have everything they need during times of crisis. She is not the manager of Support and Grow North East’s Berthram Grange Community Centre.
- Embells Community Support Project, Gateshead – offers support to residents in need. Help with food parcels and clothing needs and run a regular community market. All the funds raised go directly to supporting individuals and families in need.
- Carol Ross, Jarrow Litter Pickers – a one woman band who goes out every day picking up other people’s rubbish to ensure the community is clean and tidy.
- Claire Longworth, Stronger Together, Consett – volunteers for Stronger Together, a charity supporting people living with mental or physical health issues, living with dementia or their carers. Claire runs small activity groups helping people to develop confidence and connect with others.
- Leonard Small, Stanley – supports his fellow tenants at Karbon’s retirement living home Oakwood Court. Known to many as ‘Lenny’, organising visits for tenants who have been taken to hospital, birthday parties and weekly bacon butty mornings and bingo nights.
- Donna Brown, Brockwell Centre, Pelton Fell – Donna is a lead youth worker, going above and beyond to deliver youth clubs, free lunches, toddler sessions and activities for children in the community during the school holidays.
- Katie and Cat, Grow Baby Charity, Thornaby – they run free children’s activities and a club and provide babies and children’s clothing and toys for those in need.
- Nettlesworth Community Café – funded thousands of free hot meals to vulnerable people, making sure everyone who contacts them is supported, even if they don’t come from the Chester-le-Street community. Even when regulars have been unwell, they have delivered hot meals to their homes.
To find out more about Karbon Homes 12 deeds of Christmas, visit www.karbonhomes.co.uk/good-deeds.
This Christmas, community stars from up and down the North East are being recognised for their selfless acts of kindness through our 12 deeds of Christmas initiative.
Our annual campaign celebrates the stars in its communities by formally recognising both the good neighbours and community heroes who have gone the extra mile to help others and deserve a big thank you.
One of this year’s community heroes is Letty Davison who runs the Eggcrackers group in Chester-le-Street, County Durham. After an incident where her friend was physically attacked for trying to use a public restroom, Letty decided she wanted to create a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community and anyone with Neurodivergence or additionally abled.
Eggcrackers, named after their mission statement “to bring everyone out of their shell”, meet weekly at REfUSE café in Chester-le-Street to offer peer to peer support and plan events for their members.
On winning the Community Star, Letty said: “After moving to Chester-le-Street just over a year ago, I couldn’t find a Pride group anywhere to join, they all seemed to have folded through lockdown, so I decided I wanted to set one up. The local community have helped me massively to get this off the ground and together we have created a safe space where people can be who they’re supposed to be and don’t have to be afraid to show their colours. I just want to help people.
“I was so shocked to have been named one of Karbon’s 12 community stars. I felt honoured to just be nominated but to win just feels amazing. I am very grateful.”
Through November, we asked people in its communities to nominate individuals or organisations they think deserve a community star. The winners are then selected by a panel of judges and presented with a thank you to the value of £100 in December.
Philip Pollard, Assistant Director of Customer & Community Engagement at Karbon Homes, said: “We’ve been running the 12 deeds of Christmas for several years now and it’s always heartwarming to see the wonderful, selfless acts of kindness that people and groups in our communities do for one another.
“We work with our customers to shape strong, sustainable places for our communities. The 12 deeds initiative is a fantastic way to celebrate community spirit and for people to thank those who have helped to make a positive difference.”
The full list of 12 deeds of Christmas winners:
- Carol Napper, Morpeth – committee member of the WI organising events and trips for members along with transport. Collects and delivers for food banks, delivers papers on the estate and gives lifts to people in the community with limited access to transport.
- Rose Peat, Lynemouth – after the loss of her daughter to cancer, Rose began volunteering for cancer patient care charity Daft as a Brush. She now assists cancer patients with hospital appointments and supports them during their treatments.
- Katherine Miller, Tanga Club, Hexham – founding member of Tanga Club, a charity that supports children with additional needs and their families. Provides a weekly youth club for over 400 beneficiaries, runs parent/carer retreat days and organises an annual trip to Centre Parcs. Katherine does all this while being a parent of a child who has significant care needs.
- Ashleigh Jones, Wallsend – community volunteer providing food parcels and clothing to residents for Support and Grow North East, a charity fighting poverty and social isolation. Works hard to ensure those in her community have everything they need during times of crisis. She is not the manager of Support and Grow North East’s Berthram Grange Community Centre.
- Embells Community Support Project, Gateshead – offers support to residents in need. Help with food parcels and clothing needs and run a regular community market. All the funds raised go directly to supporting individuals and families in need.
- Carol Ross, Jarrow Litter Pickers – a one woman band who goes out every day picking up other people’s rubbish to ensure the community is clean and tidy.
- Claire Longworth, Stronger Together, Consett – volunteers for Stronger Together, a charity supporting people living with mental or physical health issues, living with dementia or their carers. Claire runs small activity groups helping people to develop confidence and connect with others.
- Leonard Small, Stanley – supports his fellow tenants at Karbon’s retirement living home Oakwood Court. Known to many as ‘Lenny’, organising visits for tenants who have been taken to hospital, birthday parties and weekly bacon butty mornings and bingo nights.
- Donna Brown, Brockwell Centre, Pelton Fell – Donna is a lead youth worker, going above and beyond to deliver youth clubs, free lunches, toddler sessions and activities for children in the community during the school holidays.
- Katie and Cat, Grow Baby Charity, Thornaby – they run free children’s activities and a club and provide babies and children’s clothing and toys for those in need.
- Nettlesworth Community Café – funded thousands of free hot meals to vulnerable people, making sure everyone who contacts them is supported, even if they don’t come from the Chester-le-Street community. Even when regulars have been unwell, they have delivered hot meals to their homes.
To find out more about Karbon Homes 12 deeds of Christmas, visit www.karbonhomes.co.uk/good-deeds.
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