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After a career in financial services, North East born Andrew Monkhouse is giving back to the region that shaped him by becoming a North East Roots Ambassador.
Born in North Shields and brought up in Whitley Bay, Andrew credits the region with giving him the resilience, work ethic and outlook that helped shape his life and career. Now retired from full-time work, Andrew has joined Community Foundation North East’s network of North East Roots Ambassadors. Through a generous donation to the North East Roots Fund, he is helping local organisations create opportunities for young people across the region and encouraging others with a connection to the North East to do the same.
Andrew came to appreciate the sacrifices his parents made to support his education and he and his sister worked from an early age, taking on paper rounds and jobs in local shops and pubs. Earning his own money brought responsibility and independence, teaching him lessons that stayed with him throughout his career. His understanding of the wider region was formed beyond the coast, too. Weekends spent “rambling for bairns” with his keen fell-walking parents introduced him to the countryside of Northumberland and County Durham.
Andrew went on to study Industrial Economics at the University of Nottingham, where he met his future wife Sarah, and after graduating he moved to London. He qualified as both a Chartered Accountant and Corporate Treasurer before building a successful career in the City of London.
His work gave him the chance to travel extensively and meet people from many cultures and backgrounds. Yet, one of the most rewarding parts of his career was investing in the people in his teams, encouraging them to fulfil their potential and taking pride in seeing them move on to bigger and better things.
That belief in people’s potential sits at the heart of Andrew’s decision to support North East Roots. He sees the chance to work, learn and build confidence early in life as invaluable and recognises that those opportunities are not equally available to everyone.
Although Andrew left the region at 21, he has never lost his connection to it. His parents still live in Whitley Bay and he returns regularly to see them, meet old friends and watch the occasional Newcastle United match. Both of his children chose to attend university in the North East, giving them their own appreciation of the area and creating further reasons for the family to return.
Andrew retired from full-time work in 2025, giving him the time and opportunity to consider how he could give back to the communities that played such an important role in his life. North East Roots offered a direct way to do this, channelling funding from people connected to the region back into organisations making a difference on the ground.
“I’m very proud of my North East roots,” Andrew says. “The successes I’ve had are, in large part, due to the experiences I had in the North East in my early life, and the resilience and work ethic it taught me.”
The North East Roots Fund supports charitable organisations working with organisations that are helping to tackle inequality, widening access to economic opportunities and enabling people to expand their horizons.
For Andrew, its local focus is crucial. “This targeted funding, from the region to the region, is extremely important. It aims to improve people’s lives and broaden the range of opportunities open to them.”
His message to others who have lived, worked, studied or grown up here is simple: “I’d encourage anyone with a connection to or affection for the North East to support North East Roots, helping create opportunities in the region that shaped us and playeed such an important role in making us who we are.”
Find out more about North East Roots, becoming an Ambassador or supporting the Fund here, or by contacting John Hollingsworth, Chief Philanthropy and Development Officer at Community Foundation North East, using the form below.