by Colin Burrell, Support Worker
I'm Colin, a support worker at Knowsley Road in Birkenhead.
Can I tell you all about Neo Community? I found them over 10 years ago when I was going through a tough time. I have always been encouraging people to go and check them out.
Neo is a charity committed to promoting the growth of self-sustaining, resilient communities. They are at the forefront of reducing food waste and food insecurity through awareness, education and food provision.
They have a men's group. It’s where a few local fellas all get together, we have a brew, bacon butty, chat, and do some woodwork. Every fourth week we do a focused session on mental health. We talk to each other about what we are experiencing, about how we get through things and support each other.
For the woodwork we source any waste wood destined for landfill, dry it out, sand it down and repaint it to then make planters and benches out of it for the local community.
They also have a café that's only £3 a meal. Community shop, with pay as you feel prices, a room with pool, darts, and axe throwing (but don’t worry they're only plastic!) It's a place where we can relax and chill out. There’s always stuff going on, just like last week there was a visit to an alpaca farm.
I suggested the men's group at Neo to Anthony because it’s a warm, welcoming environment where we can get out and get involved. Anthony is a great advocate for mental health and is always willing to lend a listening ear and support others, that’s how he likes to get involved. Now that Ronnie has heard about it, he’s been coming down as well and has been enjoying getting to know people there too. We are chatting with them about what we can do to help and how we can use our skills and abilities to get more involved as a community.
Neo is located at Beaconsfield Community House, Rock Ferry, Wirral, CH42 3YN. Or you can check out their website.
Everyone is welcome to come and visit.
Thank you for reading.
