We Won! But This Award Belongs to Every Woman Who Trusted Us With Her Journey.
In November 2024, the North East Nipple Project was named Heart of the Community at the North Tyneside Business Awards.
I'm not going to pretend that didn't mean something. It meant a lot.
But when I sat with it afterwards, the feeling that stayed with me wasn't pride in what Megan and I had built. It was the faces of the women who'd trusted us to be part of their recovery.
The award is theirs, really. We just showed up!
How the North East Nipple Project started
During lockdown, I completed a course in areola tattooing. The more I learned, the more I realised how many women were falling through the gaps.
Areola tattooing is available on the NHS, but long waiting lists and limited access mean many women can't receive this care in a timely way. For some, that wait stretches on for years after an already exhausting treatment journey. Newcastle Magazine
Megan Jones, who owns Strictly Beauty Clinic in Durham, and I joined forces after we developed our skills in semi-permanent makeup treatments. We researched areola tattooing and realised it wasn't easily accessible to women and men who had undergone breast surgery in the North East. Shields Gazette
So we set up the North East Nipple Project to do something about it.
What we actually do
The North East Nipple Project is a not-for-profit. We offer free areola tattooing to women who have undergone breast reconstruction following breast cancer surgery.
The treatment is often described as the final stage of breast reconstruction. It plays a vital role in restoring confidence and helping women feel whole again. Newcastle Magazine
For many of the women we see, the physical treatment is long behind them. The scar is there. The reconstruction is done. But there's still something missing - something that's hard to name but very easy to feel.
The tattoo closes that chapter in a way that nothing else quite does.
As Megan puts it: "We call areola tattooing the gift of confidence. It allows women to feel like themselves again after a long and difficult journey. It really is the final step towards emotional and physical recovery."
And I've seen that play out in the room, time after time.
One of my clients had been on a nine-year journey with breast cancer. She told me she'd never cried about it along the way. But when she sat up and saw the tattoos, she burst into tears of happiness. Shields Gazette
That's what we're doing. That's why we keep doing it.
How the project is funded - and why that matters
I want to be honest about this, because I think it's important.
The North East Nipple Project runs on donations. We fundraise so we can offer a number of free treatments each month to those who need them most. Without donations coming in, we can't offer free appointments - it's as straightforward as that.
Most recently, a £1,000 grant from Northumberland Freemasons helped fund advanced areola tattooing and skin camouflage training, allowing us to develop our skills further - including advanced techniques to better disguise scarring and work across a wider range of skin types. Read more: Newcastle Magazine
That kind of support directly improves the standard of care we can offer. Every donation, large or small, has a real impact on what we're able to do.
If you'd like to support the project, you can find us at northeastnipples.co.uk or follow us on Instagram at @northeastnippleproject.
A note for anyone who has been through breast surgery
If you're wondering whether the North East Nipple Project could help you, the best place to start is our website. Free appointments are available when funding allows, and we're always working to expand what's possible.
If you're not sure whether you're ready - whether the timing feels right, whether you're in the right headspace - that's okay too. There's no rush. When you're ready, we'll be here.
And if you'd like to know more about areola tattooing itself - what it involves, how it works, what to expect - you can read more on the areola tattooing page at Amanda Jo.
Thank you
To the North Tyneside Business Awards for recognising what we do.
To Northumberland Freemasons for their generous support.
To every woman who has sat in that chair and let us be part of her story.
And to Megan - for building this alongside me from the beginning.
This one's for all of you.
- AmandaThe North East Nipple Project was named Heart of the Community at the North Tyneside Business Awards 2024. To support the project or find out more, visit northeastnipples.co.uk.