Her love of community work blossomed into a full-time job.  Barbara Cage, 41, of Elswick, Newcastle, is now a community development worker at Healthworks, based at Newcastle’s West End Medical Resource Centre.

But her dedication to helping others first started as just a hobby, and the former John Lewis shop assistant spent 18 years working in retail.  Although she does what she loves as a living now, Barbara still gives up lots of her own time to volunteer at Park Road Community Centre at Cruddas Park.  As well as helping run the centre five nights a week, she is also on the Waverley Tenants’ Association.

And she still manages to fit in time to look out for neighbours around her home in Mather Road, where she lives with husband Mark.  Barbara was particularly close to 63-year-old neighbour Harry Blair, who she spent 15 months caring for before he died of cancer in February.

“Being a single man in his 60s he didn’t have a clue what to do or where to get help,” said Barbara, who is also known by her maiden name of Barbara Slasor. 

“I just used my skills from my job to help him through it. I went to doctors and hospital appointments with him, and did all his shopping, cooking and washing.

“He used to call me his number one unofficial adopted daughter, and I used to call him Pops. His face lit up whenever I said that.”