Mothers, sisters, wives, girlfriends and fiancées - what would we do without them?
On International Women’s Day we celebrate these extraordinary ladies and show them how much we love, respect and value them.
Every year, 8 March marks the day the world recognises the incredible contributions women have made while raising awareness of inequality that thousands still face.
So ChronicleLive has put together a list to celebrate inspirational women who are making a difference to the North East:
1) Angeline Lucas
Winner of 'Woman in the Community' at the Glass Slipper Awards, an event organised by The Chronicle Sunshine Fund, Angeline Lucas is determined to improve equality in the North East.
Angeline established the North East Dance Co-operative in January 2015 and is devoted to increasing equality of opportunity within the dance sector and promoting accessible high-standard educational/cultural experiences for all.
After removing many barriers to accessing cultural opportunities in the North East, Angeline firmly believes in the nurturing of collaborative relationships with other arts/cultural groups and organisations for the collective benefit for the entire industry.
2) Anthea Pude
Following her redundancy, Anthea Pude hit rock bottom and turned to drugs.
Her addiction spiralled out of control and she ended up losing her home and had to live in her car with her young children.
Anthea lost everything but has managed to turn her life around and now uses her experience to help others.
Now this inspirational woman is on a mission to find positivity every day, so she visits locations in the North East that bring her positive thoughts, take photos and leaves a positive message behind to inspire others and is now hoping to help other recovering addicts.
3) Tina Hall
After Tony Hall left prison, this loving mum watched her 26-year-old son's mental health deteriorate before he tragically took his own life on May 3 last year.
Feeling like they received a 'lack of support' and had been let down, Tina has set up a Facebook group, River of Tears, in the hope to save lives by offering more support for people who have mental health issues.
Tina is now continuing to campaign to raise awareness of the issues that her family experienced with the aim to prevent other families from going through what she did.
4) Lynn McManus
Crowned the North East Champion in this year's the Chronicle Sunshine Fund's Glass Slipper Awards, Lynn McManus has transformed thousands of families' lives.
Over 10 years ago, passionate Lynn founded the charity Pathways4All and introduced a unique and hugely popular resource centre for the North East.
The centre provides a safe space and enhances the lives of children, young people and families with special needs and disabilities seven days a week.
5) Petra Williams
After sadly losing her daughter, Darcey-Leigh, three years ago from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Petra Williams now uses her experience to support grieving parents and siblings.
It was her daughter Emelia-Paige, who was nearly two at the time of her sister's death, that inspired this strong mum to set up a charity after she told her grief-stricken mother: "Mummy, nobody cares about me and I miss Darcey too."
Darcey's Dream offers thousands of grieving families practical and emotional support - including counselling, days out, support groups and a 24-hour help line - to siblings who have lost loved ones.
6) Diana Hunter
During her time at university, Dee Hunter's life hit rock bottom after she became a victim of rape.
After becoming depressed and turning to drink and comfort eating, one day Dee decided that she had to turn her life around and to use her darkest experiences to instil determination and self-belief on others.
Now this inspirational woman teaches martial arts at Solo Martial Arts as a way to teach others to protect themselves.
7) Juliet Sanders
Winner of this year's Unsung Hero at the Chronicle's Sunshine Fund Glass Slipper Awards, Juliet Sanders transforms the lives of thousands of families who struggle to make ends meet at Christmas.
Juliet founded charity Feeding Families, to bring those in need together with families who can provide at Christmas time.
She has a passion and a drive that inspires others and Feeding Families is a grassroots project that flourished based on Juliet's business skills and desire to help those in financial hardship.
8) Freema Chambers
Freema Chambers has changed the lives of thousands of schoolchildren through her innovative clothing project.
After experiencing hardship and sometimes relying on the hand-me-downs of friends to dress her nine-year-old-son, Freema understood the difficulty that many parents in Tyneside face.
So this big-hearted mum set up the Community School Clothing Scheme in 2017, to provide families with school uniform as well as nursery items, special occasion dresses, household items and offers storage space to those who have lost their homes.
