Samantha Jane Nye (known as Sammy) is the founder of Darwen Community Helpers CIC.
Sammy is such a kind, selfless lady who devotes her life to helping others and the community of Darwen, Lancashire. Sammy has suffered a lot of ill health over the past few years (having been diagnosed with breast cancer) and has suffered from Anxiety & Depression, but her heart is, and always has been, helping anyone & everyone she can.
Even whilst she was ill herself, Sammy dreamed of setting up a community hub where people could come and receive emotional support and practical help with things, and somewhere for those who are living in poverty or are lonely & isolated to turn up for company, a chat, and in a place where they felt cared for, valued & listened to.
Sammy tried to apply for Postcode Lottery funding to set up the 'community hub' that she dreamed of but was heartbroken to learn that her bid had not been successful (she spent many hours on the application, which was a real struggle as Sammy suffers with Dyslexia & Dyspraxia. Not to be deterred, she was determined to be there to help others no matter what, so (even though she was ill herself at the time), she embarked on a sponsored 90-day Tower Trudge (climbing the steep hills up to Darwen Tower each day for 90 days), to try and raise vital funds to help her community. This was all the more challenging for Sammy, as the hormone therapy she had received for breast cancer treatment had left her with joint & back pain.
During the pandemic, Sammy was worrying about people in the community who may be struggling to get support for things such as collecting groceries & prescriptions. Determined not to leave them without help, Sammy got stuck in and ensured people needed the support. Since then, she has supported residents in the community with food, hygiene items, and things needed for their homes. She has accompanied some to health appointments & talked with them on the phone to be there for them when they felt sad & lonely. Sammy has organised numerous community events - some so that people can come together and reduce loneliness & and isolation and other events to raise vital funds to help the community further.
In late 2022, six days after completing radiotherapy for breast cancer, Sammy set up Darwen Community Helpers CIC, which was her big ambition. She launched a much-needed community hub providing various services such as warm space, focus groups, well-being classes, low-cost meals, a food bank, and a baby bank. This is what Sammy herself once said ... "The aim is to make it as easy as possible for people to have the basics humans need to survive. The cost of living crisis is having a huge impact on people's lives and finances. I hope to reduce the anxiety that some people are feeling right now. In addition to providing easy access to food and clothing, the goal is to reduce isolation and loneliness, and this will be achieved through the classes I put on. I understand what it is like to feel lonely and isolated. And I would like to change that for others. I am extremely passionate about helping others in my community. I am just one woman on a mission to help others in their time of need ...".
I can tell you that Sammy has a heart of gold and is always like a ray of sunshine. A couple of months ago, Sammy set up a little community shop and community hub in the town, but in its early days, covering the shop and hub's overheads and funding the community projects has brought its own significant challenges. Sammy works over 60 hours a week between a paid job and running Darwen Community Helpers. As the little shop is not yet covering costs, Sammy is ploughing her money from her paid job to fill the gap. Otherwise, there would be no Darwen Community Helpers CIC; thus, many people would not have this lifeline of help and support. As a ' volunteer ', Sammy puts all the countless hours into her Darwen Community Helpers (DCH) project. So she is not receiving a penny for all she puts into DCH and the hub; on the contrary - she is helping to fund it from her own pocket by working in a separate paid job, at the same time as raising her family, running her own home, and being hit by the cost of living crisis like everyone else.
In the short time I've known her, I have been in awe of her kind, caring nature, her genuine desire to help every person who crosses her path and her compassion for anyone who is struggling or in need of support. She is an angel. Her DCH project is in desperate need of funding. It would be a great help in the community hub that she runs, whereby anyone in need of company, support or assistance is welcomed through the doors with a genuinely friendly smile, lots of support, and a 'free cup of tea or coffee'. After all, she has suffered personally; she has always put others first and has never taken her eyes off the goal of being a beacon of support and help in the community. Sammy always goes above and beyond to help.
Courtesy of Lisa Noonan
