Live Well North East (LWNE) is a registered C.I.O. (Charity Number 1204999) based in Sacriston, Durham. We are focused on positive change that transforms people’s lives for the better, providing a range of wellbeing services throughout the North East of England.
Incorporated as a CIC in 2018 we later converted to a CIO in 2023, the organisation is well established and rooted in the community. Working across County Durham, both within the community, across schools and external organisations, LWNE provides activities and services, for all ages, to support health and wellbeing.
We provide community rooted health and wellbeing services, informed by the lived experience of our founders, staff team and those we work with. We offter open access and targeted for people of all ages including those living with mental health challenges, neurodiversity, deprivation, social isolation, domestic challenges, physical health needs and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Our services and support at Live Well North East are uniquely tailored to our beneficiaries and the wider community, something we take much time to understand as a community rooted organisation.
We are an inclusive, community driven organisation, responding to the real needs of real people. We care deeply about listening to people, and working with them to co-design services and activities. Our Community Wellbeing Centre, The Live Well Centre, is a welcoming, accessible, approachable environment that supports the emotional and physical wellbeing of our community members, improving mental health, physical health and community cohesion.
Vision: Our vision is for a world where everyone can live well.
Mission: Our mission is to empower people and communities to thrive through physically, socially, and emotionally enriching activities.
Our values are the ethical principles and beliefs that underpin who we are and what we do:
Using a Five Ways to Wellbeing approach, we deliver high quality emotional, physical, social and personal wellbeing support to a variety of beneficiaries, providing an evidence based approach to supporting positive health and wellbeing. Throughout all of our work, we aim to support our beneficiaries by teaching skills and techniques to help build their overall wellbeing.
We break down barriers between people and the challenges they face in accessing social care and wellbeing services. At the core of what we do is the need to support our beneficiaries, teaching them skills and techniques to support the development of positive wellbeing.
We provide a range of high quality emotional, physical, social, and personal wellbeing support services and activities to children, young people, and adults in the North East of England, particularly in County Durham.
This includes emotional and mental wellbeing courses, workshops and events, and physical wellbeing services, classes, and activities. We support the physical and mental health and overall wellbeing of beneficiaries by providing teaching, guidance, and awareness of principles, techniques, and tools that support positive mental wellbeing. Our services enable us to reach out even further into the community and offer more activities that enrich lives and focus on wellbeing.
We provide services and activities that can be accessed by all. We are an inclusive, community driven organisation, responding to the needs of our beneficiaries, and our four pillars of development underpin all of our work:
We are based in Sacriston at our community wellbeing centre, The Live Well Centre. Alongside this we outreach with our community based work throughout the county of Durham, and through partnership working with schools, youth services and community organisations. Live Well North East are built on a foundation of removing barriers to accessing services that improve mental health thus our work now ‘travels’ throughout the county to communities in need.
The Live Well Centre is a welcoming, accessible, and approachable place which enables us to support the emotional and physical wellbeing of our community members. It is the ideal environment for bringing people together, supporting the improvement of their mental health, physical health, and overall wellbeing.
As people come together in the shared space of enriching activities to improve wellbeing, they create connections, relationships, and bonds within the programmes. The nurturing, welcoming and authentic environment of The Live Well Centre creates a safe space for people to share the load, develop their support networks, and connect with the wider LWNE offering. Feeling and being more self-confident, improving self esteem, and having better overall wellbeing has also led to improved connections and relationships outside of LWNE, consequently having a much wider and broader impact. Members have been involved in a wide range of community events with the LWNE team, improving their connections and experiences across the wider geographical community of Sacriston.
With an emphasis on inclusion, diversionary activities, community education, and positive mental health and wellbeing, LWNE works with local people to tackle local issues and create positive transformational change.
Live Well North East began to take shape in 2017 when founders Debra Cumiskey and Emma Cromarty met and discovered a shared passion and ambitious vision: to create services that empower children, young people and adults to live healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives.
Drawing on their own lived experiences, alongside a wealth of professional qualifications and expertise, Debra and Emma set out on a mission to build community-focused support services that genuinely responded to local needs. In March 2018, they officially founded Live Well North East as a Community Interest Company, starting with a small but impactful range of services including Relax Kids Durham, Go Forth Fitness, and a Holiday Club programme.
Over the following two years, the organisation grew steadily, guided by the voices of the communities it served. By listening carefully to local people and responding to emerging needs, Live Well North East expanded its services and strengthened its impact across the region.
A significant milestone came in 2020, when Live Well North East was invited to become an anchor organisation at the Sacriston Old Cooperative Workshops. This ambitious heritage regeneration project focused on restoring and renovating historic buildings to create a vibrant community hub occupied exclusively by charities and voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations for the benefit of local residents.
The Live Well North East team played a central role in bringing these buildings back to life. Their first restoration project transformed what is now Sacriston Community Boxing Club, followed by the renovation of The Den, which continues to serve as the organisation’s office base. With the support of grant funding, the team then undertook their most ambitious transformation yet—fully renovating and reimagining the building that would become The Live Well Centre.
Today, The Live Well Centre stands as the heart of Live Well North East’s work: a welcoming community space where people of all ages can access support, build connections, develop confidence, and take positive steps towards living well. What began as a shared dream between two people has grown into a thriving organisation dedicated to improving lives and strengthening communities across the North East.
Back in 2020, Sport England and Durham County Council provided funding for Live Well North East to renovate the old stables of the cooperative workshops. We worked with Double-Barrel Films to record the renovation. You can watch the full series on our Youtube channel: Live Well North East – YouTube
Take a look at our how The Live Well Centre looks now:
The Live Well Centre is available to hire at selected times, please get in touch for more information!
Working throughout the North East of England, Live Well North East provides a wide range of wellbeing services all uniquely designed and delivered to enrich and empower lives.
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