Community group which fought back from closure threat lands nomination for Best of South Tyneside Awards

The team at Community Corner has told of their huge gratitude to the people of South Tyneside who responded in style to an appeal back in January.

The charity said it needed to raise about £5,000 in two weeks to secure its short-term future.

Community Corner – which was set up almost four years ago by mother and daughter team Lynne Davis and Cheryl McDonald – sells donated goods to raise money for worthy causes in South Tyneside.

Today, Cheryl said: “We want to say a massive thank you to the people who gave their support. We have people who have backed us from day one and others who are just finding out about us but we are getting the word out.”

She said Community Corner was “doing quite well at the moment and donations are coming in. We are back on stable ground.”

After January’s appeal, the group not only received donations but also found that sales of items from its shops picked up.

“We are in a good place,” said Cheryl.

Community Corner now has shops in Edinburgh Road, Jarrow, as well as in the Viking Centre in Jarrow. where it receives donated items and sells them so that money can be raised for worthy local causes.

Its latest beneficiary was a man with crippling arthritis who was donated a £2,000 mobility scooter.

There’s another boost for Community Corner’s work. It has been nominated for a Best of South Tyneside Award and Cheryl said: “That’s amazing.

“We know ourselves how hard it is to get funding which is why we do what we do. We want to be the ones to help.”

Community Corner joins a growing list of worthy entries in this year’s awards but we want more.

* Is there a role model, a carer, or a child, who you think shows incredible courage? Do you want to honour a community stalwart who goes the extra mile to help others without asking for acknowledgement?

Is there a child of achievement who has gone that extra length to achieve their targets?

Or is there a young stage star who would deserve to win the Young Performer of the Year category?

We are calling on you to put forward nominations for everything from sports team of the year to entrepreneur of the year, and community group to fundraiser.

This year, the grand finale will be held at the Roker Hotel, where we will be revealing the winners on Wednesday, September 19.

Ray Spencer from the Customs House will be the compere for what promises to be a fantastic occasion.

The Best of South Tyneside awards, this year, have the backing of Barbour; Harlow Printing Limited; JML; BT South Tyneside; Northumbrian Water, UTS Engineering Ltd, Warmseal and South Tyneside College. To nominate, please send us the full name, phone number and email address, of the person you wish to nominate and the category you want to nominate them for, along with a brief description of why they are worthy of an award.

And if you are submitting an entry in the Young Performer category, send us a video of them performing.

Send your entries by email to: [email protected] or posted to: Lynn Wild, Alexander House, Second Floor, Rainton Bridge Business Park, Houghton-le-Spring, Sunderland, DH4 5RA.

The categories

Role Model.

Neighbour of the Year.

Greener South Tyneside.

Child of Achievement.

Fundraiser of the Year.

Entrepreneur of the Year.

Carer of the Year.

Sporting Excellence.

Sports Team of the Year/Young Sportsperson of the Year.

Community Champion.

Student of the Year.

Community Group.

Volunteer of the Year.

Child of Courage.

Young Performer of the Year.

Lifetime Contribution.