A local woman has gone the extra mile in helping people around Gateshead to uplift the community spirit.
Whickham resident, Christine Frazer, 39, has become the heart of her local community.
She took her time to support those in need during the Coronavirus pandemic lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, by picking up and delivering shopping, prescriptions and hobby supplies, to taking calls from those who felt lonely and just needed to chat.
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To help cheer everyone up, Christine also posted about her daily walks on social media and was constantly offering ways to help others. She started a Facebook page, which grew with interactions, people commenting underneath her videos and pictures.
Christine said: “I had people I didn’t know coming on watching my live Facebook videos, and it was nice to see how my use of social media could bring local people together.”
Christine works as an NHS community development officer. She wrote a book called The Sad, about mental health, which taught her a lot about herself and others.
She said: “I live alone and I know how difficult it can be and knowing that a lot of people were like me during the lockdowns I wanted to help. Mental health cases were going bad, and I could see a lot of support was needed in the community.
“My neighbour, who worked in the hospital, would be coming home after long tiring hours and would be exhausted.
“I was once outside my house, and I saw my neighbour back from work, I said hello from a distance, and he just started crying, he said ‘people are not dying from this virus but from their loneliness’.”
Christine was inspired to start to help NHS workers, by doing shopping for those she knew and didn’t. She started helping her neighbours too.
The Mutual Aid organisation helped her along the way, she said: “Through Gateshead mutual aid, I got a lot of support in reaching out to people. It’s the people I have had around me that have helped me do what I’m doing.”
“I used what existed in the community for help and support, I didn’t have to go a long way. I didn’t need money, I just needed support” she said.
If anyone would like to get involved with supporting the Gateshead community with Christine Frazer, email christine.frazer@nhs.net
