Newcastle woman's poem wins Jo Cox Carer's UK contest

Catherine Graham cared for her mother for 10 years

A woman's poem about caring for her mother is the first winner of a competition in memory of murdered MP Jo Cox.

Catherine Graham's poem The Washing Machine was written about her mum Doris who she spent 10 years caring for.

The Jo Cox Poetry Prize was run by Carers UK as part of the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness.

Ms Cox, who was killed in June 2016, was a keen campaigner against loneliness.

Ms Graham, from Newcastle, said she was "proud and humbled" to win the contest.

Jo Cox was killed as she arrived at a constituency surgery in June 2016

She said: "As a carer, you don't have to be alone to feel lonely. Little things, those times when your mother doesn't smile back at you, can make you feel so alone, so isolated.

"I would tell other carers feeling overwhelmed to write a few lines of poetry, tear it up if you choose, to process things too difficult to say.

"In my own experience, poetry has rescued me."

Her poem will be included in an anthology set to be released in November.

Other winners chosen by poet Cheryl Moskowitz are due to be announced in October.

The Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness was launched in January.