A North Tyneside community centre has launched a book telling the stories of 15 local women.
Pottery Bank Community Centre has launched In the Footsteps of Walker Women in a collaboration with non-profit organisation Write on the Tyne and with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The book aims to cover a range of social issues by sharing real life stories from resilient and remarkable women in North Tyneside.
Stories include themes such as overcoming adversity, discrimination and poverty, as well as sharing history, generational change, social change, and the way in which women's roles have evolved in society. The project has been led by local author and director of Write on the Tyne Helen Aitchison.
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Jacqui Higgins of Pottery Bank Community Centre, said: "We have created something amazing as partnership with local women. Something that will forever be in history and has given the women a voice.
New friendships have formed and women have had the chance to share their narrative in a way they never have. It’s been empowering and we hope the book resonates with other women across the country."
Participant Pauline Sheldon said that the project has made her dream of being published in a book come true. She said: "Being part of this book has made me very proud. All of the stories are incredible and very moving - they are real women with a real story that we can all relate to.
"What an incredible group of people have been involved in this project. My dream from being very little was to have something published in a book and Helen and this project has made my dream come true."
A second participant, Clare Matthews, said: "The book is filled with stories of the lives of a dozen or so amazing women from or connected with Walker. Some of us were born here, others moved and found homes and communities.
"In a way we're just ordinary women from Newcastle who might think we had nothing to say. In other ways every one of us is extraordinary and speak important truths in important ways.
"We're all different but we're all human and women so in many ways we're the same or similar too."
For more information or to get a copy of the book, visit the Write on the Tyne website.