Meet Louise

“When I got the Community Champion job at Northern Roots, I felt a huge sense of achievement. The team were all welcoming and comforting right from the very beginning, something which makes all the difference.” Louise, Community Champion

”The first time I heard about the opportunity to become a paid Community Champion at Northern Roots, I was volunteering for the Salvation Army and Northern Roots had brought ‘Wild Wednesdays’ to a half term provision that we were delivering for local children.

I looked at the job description and remember thinking how refreshing the application form was. It wasn’t a list of continuous questions which seemed irrelevant to the job post, but instead an opportunity to express my own personal thoughts and vision for the Northern Roots site.

My favorite question was one regarding what kind of event I would produce with a £500 budget. Of course, my imagination ran wild. But it was the first real indicator that this project was like no other. Local people’s skills, ideas and most importantly voices, mattered!

I’ve grown up in Oldham and lived here all my life. At the age of 20 I had my first child and unfortunately developed severe post-natal depression. I moved to the area of Alt, so didn’t know anybody and didn’t have much of a support system, so soon became very isolated.

Walking became my opportunity to escape the four walls of my little flat. The great outdoors became my place of peace, with nature the soundtrack to my only form of self-care. Little did I know at the time, the place that I spent many an hour walking on my journey to healing, is the place now known as Northern Roots.

I’m glad to say that I managed to overcome depression. I moved to Fitton Hill, which borders the Northern Roots site, and went on to have three more children. I engaged in courses around counselling and mental health, and I began volunteering for the Salvation Army, who helped me immensely in building up my confidence and skills, as well as a real sense of pride within my local community. I began to co-deliver groups for other women, who struggled with poor mental health and well-being, just like I once had.

The next goal in my personal progression was employment. At this stage I had been unemployed for 17 years! Something that I (rightly or wrongly) felt quite ashamed of. Mainly due to the stigma and prejudice that often presented itself surrounding the topic of unemployed individuals in Oldham.

When I got the Community Champion job at Northern Roots, I felt a huge sense of achievement. The team were all welcoming and comforting right from the very beginning, something which makes all the difference, when people have to enter an unfamiliar setting, unsure of what to expect.

Week by week we built up our knowledge of the Northern Roots site, its history, the Northern Roots vision, and started work on our ‘Beautiful Oldham – Why Not?’ project but most importantly we built up friendships and a resounding respect for the diverse range of personalities, experiences, skills and mindsets of those around us. People we wouldn’t necessarily get to meet, voices we wouldn’t usually get to hear, presenting to us ideas, in which communities could be brought together.

I was never really one for history, but learning about Oldham’s Mary Higgs and The Beautiful Oldham Society has opened my eyes to the true grit and sheer determination of those that paved the way before us. How one small voice, one belief, can create a movement of change and solidarity.

I had never experienced co-creation or led focus groups before, both of which I was given the opportunity to experience and build new skill sets around. I was amazed at how many ideas flowed from even a small pocket of people within the community. I was encouraged to use my creative flare and play to my strengths, which led me towards social prescribing and a paid role on the Natural Health Service at Northern Roots.

Social prescribing was something I knew very little about … but wow … to work amongst nature, showcasing my creativity whilst helping others to celebrate theirs, all with a focus on wellbeing and self-care – it was like the residue of past experiences, resilience, training and hard work had found its purpose. I am proud to work on Northern Roots’ first ever Natural Health Service programme.

In May 2024, we (the Community Champions) got to see our doodles, diagrams, notes, journals and thoughts come to life, as families, friends and individuals from numerous communities immersed themselves in our ‘Beautiful Oldham – Why Not?’ celebration event, at the very heart of the town in which they live. A green, open space filled with diversity, laughter, nature, creativity, culture, sport, support, pride and community spirit…. because that’s what makes Oldham … our little ol’ town … Beautiful.

In conclusion, I feel as though I have come full circle. From the physical site, which is now Northern Roots, first being my sanctuary in times of turmoil, to years later helping me to achieve employment, meet new people, discover a new career path, gain new skills, discover a deeper love for heritage and nature, and most of all, allow me to see what qualities I possess and what I am capable of, simply by being me!”