Page 6 - Real Rochdale Issue 18 Summer 2023

JENNY KENNEDY:
WOMAN of rochdale 2022
Springhill Hospice CEO Samantha Wells, Sarah Fitchett (last year’s winner), Jenny Kennedy (this
year’s winner), Lesley Mort (chair of the board of trustees), and now Mayoress Margaret Holly
Former youth worker Jenny Kennedy was crowned this year’s Woman
of Rochdale at the annual luncheon for all of her good work in both
the Darnhill and wider Heywood communities.
Known locally to many as the Queen of
Heywood, Jenny, who lives on the Darnhill
estate, has a long history of helping others,
from her beginnings as a youth and social
worker to her work with her community
group, Restoring Hope.
In 2006, Jenny set up Heywood Youth Link, a
charity which evolved out of a mentoring
service she ran at Rochdale Youth Service.
Funded for two years, Jenny felt the service
shouldn’t disappear, and turned it into a
charity, using a similar model to Rochdale
Connections Trust.
REAL ROCHDALE - SUMMER 2023
offering items for others in need so I started
Photos : Ken Rowlatt
“At the time, lots of kids from Darnhill and
Heywood wouldn’t travel to Rochdale for
help,” she explained. “Adults came to us to
train as volunteers and were leaving with a
level 3 qualification which meant they could
have a change of career – they could apply for
jobs in schools and youth offending.”
Heywood Youth Link sadly came to an end in
2014 after Jenny was diagnosed with cancer.
“I couldn’t do as much, but the staff were
fantastic and tried to run it, but we closed in
2014. People still got in touch with me
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something I called ‘Pay it Forward and Share
the Love’ which merged into Restoring Hope.”
Jenny founded the Restoring Hope
charitable group with local postman Steven
Kay, who has raised tens of thousands of
pounds for the local foodbank. They decided
to join forces to help even more people in the
Heywood community.
Restoring Hope largely operates from a large
room in Darnhill Library, where Jenny set up
a community food pantry and works with a
community café.
Before gaining her degree in youth
community work – which Jenny is especially
proud of as she is dyslexic “which was an
asset with the children, really” – she worked
as a social worker in children’s homes for 15
years.
She married her husband John in 1983, and Jenny shortly after she was announced as the winner
has two sons, Justin, 47, a minister at
Heywood Baptist, and Jonny, 48, who works
in Venetian marbling. the community. “We’re so blessed with
people volunteering, and our local
Jenny met John, 65, when they worked councillors have all been amazing. They’re
together at the-then Senior Service in an absolute godsend to the estate and
Middleton before John moved into youth Heywood, helping with things like housing
work. issues.
They have two adopted grandchildren, Isaac, “A lot of our work is with people who have
terminal illness, sick children, or their bills
seven, and Charisse, 13, after being asked to
be grandparents by a young girl who Jenny are mounting when in hospital. Every day
once worked with. people message me that they’re struggling
so I signpost them somewhere; they always
Jenny is still in touch with many of the thank me and say that they were really
then-young people she helped – with some helped.
even wanting to return the favour and help
her help others. “Some people who have been in desperate
situations have come back to me months
“I enjoyed making relationships with the later, offering their help.
teens,” she said. “There was a lot of joy but
also a lot of pain when they opened up to “You can’t buy that feeling of satisfaction,
you. The fact they trusted me is a honour, and it’s very humbling to do. I’m honoured
and that’s still there because I’m still in touch to be in a position to support someone and
with people I helped when they were youths, empathise with their situations.
but the relationship is different.”
“Being the Woman of Rochdale is nice for
“With Restoring Hope, I love that people Darnhill. I didn’t realise it was me until they
have got somewhere to go and talk to us in said the winner was known as our Queen!”
REAL ROCHDALE - SUMMER 2023