All you need is love.
And a little help from your friends.
When mum-of-five Julie Young lost her “rainbow” - 15-year-old son Reagan - just weeks ago on January 9 her family, friends and neighbours in Stockton’s Tilery estate rallied round her.
Reagan was left brain-damaged when he was nine months old after he suddenly stopped breathing and he needed round-the-clock care.
His “bright personality” and “giggly” nature warmed the hearts of everyone who knew him.
The Abbey Hill School pupil loved nothing more than splashing in the pool with Julie, 53, and his brothers and sisters, Andrew, 28, Anthony, 27, Lauren, 24, and Cameron, 12.
And his love of motorbikes was captured at his funeral when members of the Tees Riders motorcycle group provided an escort from his home.
Now Julie - determined to set up a charity in his name called Rainbows for Reagan with the motto ‘All you need is love... with a little help from your friends’ - has raised £3,658 for the children’s ward of the University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton.
She calls the staff on Ward 15 her extended family and says the nursing team is the “best in the country”.
“They have listened to my moaning and groaning,” said Julie, who lives on Kingston Road, where filming has taken place for the new series of the controversial television programme Benefits Street.
“The most important thing is they practise love and care.”
A friend and neighbour, Michelle Powton, held a cake stall selling hundreds of rainbow themed goodies.
Local businesses including Nisa, John Carroll, Toys R Us, Farm Foods, Spar, Cleveland Meat Hampers, Halfords and many more have supported Julie’s fundraising.
“The money will pay for three blood pressure machines and a rainbow to be incorporated in the corridor entrance to the ward,” said Julie, who has six grandchildren Riley, eight, Phoebe, six, Byron, three, Evieeleigh, 21 months, Carson, nine months, and Theo Jack, five months.
“I will keep raising money for the hospital.
“That will keep me going.
“I would not be able to do it without these people. This is the best place to live.”
Sister Linda Slee, who works on Ward 15 at the University Hospital of North Tees, said: “We have all known Reagan since he was nine months old and looked after him since then.
“It (money raised) means a great deal; it’s not just about the things that we can buy, it’s the sentiment behind it.”
She said people who featured on Benefits Street had the potential to be portrayed in a negative light but she believed Julie’s positive character would be revealed on the show.
“If you look back to the first Benefits Street it created a lot of negative comments but they don’t really know.
"Because we all know Julie and her family,” she said.
“People who live on this estate are not what people imagine.
"When I came to the fundraising all I saw was an awful lot of people raising a lot of money.
“They might not be everyone’s cup of tea, they don’t have a lot of money but they have got hearts of gold.”
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