DOWNTRODDEN. Much-maligned. Perennially disadvantaged. Full of Department of Housing homes, junkies and dole-bludgers. 

That’s Windale. At least, that’s its reputation according to those looking at it from the outside in. 

Those who live there paint a different picture entirely. They are proud to call 2306 home. They point to the success stories you never hear about and the community spirit found in every street. 

They use words like ‘‘acceptance’’ and ‘‘friendship’’ and say everyone looks out for each other. And they would tell you the same problems found in Windale can be found in any other suburb. 

Windale, according to the latest Dropping Off The Edge report, has again been named one of the state’s most disadvantaged suburbs. 

But, if you ask those who call the suburb home what the biggest disadvantage is, you might be surprised.

It’s not long-term unemployment, education levels, literacy and numeracy, unskilled workers or criminal convictions.

It’s the stigma itself. It’s the unfair reputation the suburb has among the rest of the Hunter. 

It’s being the butt of jokes. It’s seeing the look on someone’s face when you tell them you are from Windale. Hearing your child being called a ‘‘houso’’ by opponents during junior sport. Having to leave your address off a resume in order to give yourself a chance of finding a job. Windale’s detractors might snigger at those complaints, but the residents say they are living with them. And a lot of them say they are proud of where they call home and would not want to be anywhere else. 

Sue McQuillan is one of those selfless residents every suburb needs. She volunteers; she answers the phone; if you want something just ask Sue. 

She says the way the suburb is perceived has a lot to do with the media and the focus on negative stories instead of some of the good things happening in Windale.

‘‘Basically we are like every other suburb, we could do with some more jobs, but there are no jobs to be had at the moment,’’ she says. ‘‘Our major disadvantage is people think we’re evil and we’re not. We never have been. 

‘‘We have problems with drugs and other issues, but every other suburb does too. And there are plenty of us good buggers around.’’

Sue, and others I speak to, tell me one of the major reasons the suburb continues to appear on these lists is that it has its own postcode and does not share it with any other suburb. 

While nearby 2290 has Bennetts Green, Charlestown, Dudley, Gateshead, Hillsborough, Kahibah, Mount Hutton, Redhead, Tingira Heights and Whitebridge, Windale is all on its own in 2306. 

‘‘We are not incorporated with anyone else,’’ Sue says. 

‘‘2290 you’ve got a big area, we’ve just got our little town. ‘‘It’s all Windale. We’ve got no one else to pull us up and help our average. 

‘‘There are people here that work and we are selling department of housing houses to new buyers and we’re all trying to work together but it is a slow process.

‘‘There are plenty of positives here, acceptance, friendship, it really is a community and people look out for each other. That’s probably the best thing about this place.’’

The stereotype goes that those from Windale just take, but Sue wants me to know there are plenty who give too.

Sue’s neighbour, Anita, 82, volunteers every fortnight at John Hunter Hospital with Ronald McDonald House and the Cancer Council. 

Anita moved to Windale four years ago from Gateshead, but was not apprehensive about calling Windale home. 

‘‘I’d heard lots of things, some good some bad,’’ Anita says. ‘‘But I don’t mind it here.

‘‘I haven’t had any trouble with yahoos, I don’t go looking for trouble.’’

Kay Mills has lived in Windale since 1976. She raised three children who are now all employed and married with children. 

‘‘I’ve seen a lot of changes over the years, but there has always been that stigma,’’ she said. 

‘‘As soon as you mentioned you were living in Windale people would look at you differently. But it is like any other area. There is good and bad.’’ 

The Baptist Care Community Centre has been open in its new home in South Street for 18months. The centre provides budget food and supplies, a support network, a social area and kitchen facilities. 

Baptist Care group manager north west operations Scott Pilgrim says the disadvantages the suburb is facing are complex. 

‘‘It’s clearly a disadvantaged community, all of the statistics highlight that,’’ Mr Pilgrim says. 

‘‘I guess its a complex issue, because its kind of a web of needs. 

‘‘You can chip away at one thing but there is something else. 

‘‘Common factors are obviously low income, across the suburb the average income is much lower than most of the Hunter or much of NSW or Australia. 

‘‘Unemployment, some generational unemployment and then related to that a higher number of single mums, the Indigenous population in the area is higher, so there is that complexity of need which has been apparent. 

‘‘We try to also focus on the issue of the stigma versus the positive stuff happening here. 

‘‘There still is that stigma associated with Windale, externally to Windale. 

‘‘Within the local community there is a whole lot of good things happening and the schools plays a vital role in that. ‘‘I guess its those green shoots, there are signs of that change. It’s a long-term issue and there is not going to be short-term solutions.

‘‘We’ve been here five years, and in this building 18 months, we would say that you have got to be on the ground in a community like this for a decade to see real change.

‘‘Local people know this community is disadvantaged, so they don’t want to keep walking around talking about it, they want to practically do something about it. 

‘‘My sense is there is growing optimism in Windale that the community can change but there is always going to be pockets of disadvantage here. 

Down at Windale’s rugby league fields there are a bunch of parents watching the under-10s train. Windale failed to field any teams in the juniors in 2014. But the club is on the way back and has three juniors and a senior side this year. 

Club treasurer Glenda Lovett introduces me to a group of parents who are all talking about the report.

As the blast of a dirt bike rings out nearby, the group talk about the young families buying up affordable land and houses in what used to be Department of Housing territory.

They say you should buy in Windale now because in a few years the suburb will have reinvented itself.  

But until then what is it going to take for people to change their mind about Windale?

According to Sue they probably won’t. 

‘‘People don’t like hearing things that don’t match their opinion,’’ she says.  ‘‘But they could come and visit or come and live here and then they could see for themselves.’’

The Herald, Newcastle