Five days before the Manvers riot, Nancy Pout could only watch helplessly as protestors ran riot across her town.
The Salaam Centre, which provides groups and support for those in the local community facing a number of issues and which Ms Pout is the manager of, was one of those caught in the crossfire of bricks and bottles.
“What I saw was senseless acts of violence and damage,” she says, adding: “It was horrible.”
But people like her were galvanised in the aftermath.
“It made us feel even more passionate about supporting our community and we stood together with our neighbours, with my colleagues and with the amazing men and women of Cleveland Police and said ‘no, this is not our town’,” Ms Pout adds.
A large group had gathered by 09:00 BST the morning after to start the clean up, with volunteers being helped on with teas and coffees from other members of the community.
“It was a shining light out of what had been a horrible night within the community, but it really shows that the majority in Hartlepool want what’s best for this town, unlike the minority that were there on [31 July].
“The town pulled together, we had hundreds of people attend to try and make up for the horrible scenes of the previous night and that support has continued throughout the weeks.
“So our doors are open and we are business as usual.”
