Teenage Girls’ Emotional Wellbeing & Aspirations Programme

Wellbeing / Employability / May 11th, 2022

Teenage Girls’ Emotional Wellbeing & Aspirations Programme

Funded by the County Durham Community Foundation, we successfully delivered a twelve-week programme to support vulnerable teenage girls in Stanley, in an area of high socio-economic deprivation. Our project focused on early interventions to prevent longer term mental health issues, paticularly with those who are sufferring due to the impact of COVID-19.

With this group, gender and identity and the impact of isolation during Lockdown had a huge effect on their self-esteem. The group sessions gave some young people an opportunity to discuss being non binary and how this made them feel in relation to their feelings, friendships and personal identity.

We want to say a big thank you to JUMP a design agency in Newcastle, who provided an insight into the world of work. Our young people were very respectful of the professional environment, and they all made very positive contributions to the discussions. The group has helped us to design and create online emotional wellbeing resources for other young people to use in the future

“The programme organised and delivered by BSB has been fantastic. The young people have really enjoyed participating in the sessions and have been able to be completely open, within a supportive environment. We highly recommend the Wellbeing Programme.” ”

- Mr A Bourne, North Durham Academy

Employability / January 6th, 2025

Business Roundtable Event - Time to put the North East on the Business Map

As a long-standing member of Do Business Network (DBN), I was delighted to be asked to attend the business roundtable discussion with Liz Twist MP for Blaydon and Consett, and Gareth Thomas MP, Minister in the Department for Business and Trade on Monday 9th December at Derwentside College.

Environmental / September 8th, 2025

Benfieldside Garden's August Update

Here is our August update about the work at Benfieldside Community Garden. There is also another layer of compressed gravel to go into the paths! With thanks to the The National Lottery Community Fund RC North East & Cumbria Region for their kind support.

Digital Inclusion / March 25th, 2026

Odin's Poems

As part of our digital inclusion programme, we are open to all kinds of suggestion of help from the members of the community. Odin has been to quite a few of our sessions, and we have helped him in all kinds of ways to get reconnected. This week I was personally delighted that he brought along some poetry that he has written, to share with us, and asked for our help to digitise.