Citizen of the Year 2017 Nominee – Denis Horan

Love Barrow Admin

Denis Horan has been nominated for the Citizen of the Year 2017 Award Sponsored by Furness Building Society.Furness Building Society Logo

Who is Denis Horan?

Denis Horan is a local entertainer, singer, radio presenter and family guy – he’s a recognisable face around the town as he has been involved with many local fundraising events too.

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Dennis Horan – Photo from D.Horan

Denis has entertained the population of Barrow for at least 15 years. This year, when the big town centre Xmas Light Switch On event was under threat of being cancelled, he put together a small group, met with the Barrow Council and has stepped up to the plate to organise, at very short notice, a community event to ensure the switch on of Barrow Christmas lights takes place.

“Denis is a lovely man, who over the years has given his time entertaining the town, also helping to raise money for many charities.  He has shown he is determined to support and entertain Barrow.”

Well Done Denis, keep the songs coming and keep entertaining the town, and good luck with the switch on!

If you know a person, a group, charity or business who deserves some recognition then you have until the 18th November 2016 to nominate them for a Love Barrow Award 2017.

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Please note all information is from the nomination form (s) and some information may be incorrect at time of publishing.  

Citizen of the Year 2017 Nominee – Fiona Lowther

Love Barrow Admin

Fiona Lowther has been nominated for the Citizen of the Year 2017 Award Sponsored by Furness Building Society.Furness Building Society Logo

“Every Little Helps” they say and that is certainly the case for Citizen of the Year nominee Fiona Lowther.

Who is Fiona?

Fiona works at Tesco Metro in Roose as the Community Champion and is a familiar face to anyone who shops in the store, as she often works in “front of house” greeting shoppers with her latest charity project or raffle.

Photo by North West Evening Mail

Fiona has been nominated for her work with Tesco and the Community which sees her spend a vast amount of time fundraising, cleaning up litter from the community and teaching kids about farm to fork which through Tesco gives free experiences for 4 to 11-year-olds at a store or supplier to find out the journey of their food, Fiona also educates people about healthy eating by visiting local schools.  As well as all this, Fiona also regularly raises money for Diabetes UK

When asked about Fiona’s special qualities, the nomination sums it up perfectly,

“…She’s kind, caring, has a big heart full of love, she’s an amazing person who deserves the award…”

Well Done Fiona, you are an inspiration to us all!

If you know a person, a group, charity or business who deserves some recognition then you have until the 18th November 2016 to nominate them for a Love Barrow Award 2017.

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Please note all information is from the nomination form (s) and some information may be incorrect at time of publishing.  

Community Focused Business 2017 Nominee – Womens Community Matter’s

Love Barrow Admin

Women’s Community Matters have been nominated for the Community Focused Business of the Year Award.

Women’s Community Matters was established in 2014 as a centre for women in the area to get access to help support and guidance in all aspects of life.

Who Are they?

womens-community-matters-2016-logoBased in Duke Street in Barrow-in-Furness, the core team of Women’s Community Matters live and breathe the philosophy that Every Woman Matters.  The team are made up of real women, who understand the pressures, the challenges and the successes that women face on a daily basis and are supported by volunteers and a wide variety of other organisations and business throughout the area.

Women’s Community Matters help to make a  positive difference to the lives of women in the Barrow area. They help in all ways providing resources to women in crisis and those who are vulnerable and at risk and provide a friendly, safe centre where you can simply pop in for a cup of tea and a piece of cake!

It doesn’t matter about your age or background, the centre welcomes all women aged 16+.

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Photo by Women’s Community Matters

They run Drop in sessions,  activities and courses where women can learn and grow and have their own clothes bank.

The team strive to create an atmosphere of empowerment and self-development, removing obstacles and dealing with issues together.  A lot of the women who benefit from the centre go on to help and  participate in the day to day running as volunteers, trustees and members.

 

If you know a person, a group, charity or business who deserves some recognition then you have until the 18th November 2016 to nominate them for a Love Barrow Award 2017.

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Please note all information is from the nomination form (s) and some information may be incorrect at time of publishing.  

Group or Project 2017 Nominee – Help the Homeless

Love Barrow Admin

Help the Homeless have been nominated for the Group or PPhil-Collier-Associatesroject of the Year Award 2017 sponsored by Phil Collier Associates.

 

Help the Homeless was set up on Black Friday in 2015 to help raise funds primarily for the  Furness Homeless Support Group but to also support other homeless people in the Furness area.

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Who Are they?

Help the Homeless is run by an eclectic mix of people from all walks of life, aged 16 to 45.  These people want to make a difference to thier community and the people in it.  Their attitude is that no idea is to big or small and they will give anything a go as long as it benefits the charity’s aims and goals. 

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Charity Night at the Nines – Photo by Darren McSweeney

The group has been involved in goods, clothing  and essentials collections.  There have been two music events to raise money, hosted at the Nines Club in Barrow-in-Furness. On their very first event they raised over £5000.  They have also arranged local businesses to donate left-over food.

To date the group have raised nearly £6500.  All events have been arranged at no cost, so without the need to pay out on overheads,  every penny raised goes to the charity.

The latest event amount was donated to the Special Care Baby Unit at Furness General Hospital,  in memory of Dean Zaccarini, a much loved and talented local musician, who sadly passed away earlier in the year.  Dean was one of the groups major contributors at the first event.

Well Done Help The Homeless and your team, you are an inspiration to us all!

If you know a person, a group, charity or business who deserves some recognition then you have until the 18th November 2016 to nominate them for a Love Barrow Award 2017.

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Please note all information is from the nomination form (s) and some information may be incorrect at time of publishing.  

Here we go!

Love Barrow Admin

Wow! Where did that year go?

Today the 2017 Love Barrow Award nominations open (6th Oct). It hardly seems 5 minutes ago that we were celebrating the Best of Barrow at the Forum with the glitzy award ceremony!

But, time waits for nobody and here we are, opening nominations again – the clock is ticking and it’ll be closed again before you know it in November, then it will be Christmas, then the New Year and hey, we’re heading into awards night again!

So get your thinking caps on and get nominating those local heroes – keep checking this blog for full details as the nominations start rolling in!

Tonight’s the night!

Love Barrow Admin

How can that have come around so quickly? It only seems like yesterday that we opened the nominations for the 2016 Love Barrow Awards and here we are on the day of the event!
Tonight the red carpet will be rolled at The Forum as we welcome an amazing bunch of people to the 11th Annual awards night.
Dresses have been bought, suits pressed, shoes polished as the glitz and glamour of the glittering awards cermeony gets underway.
For our finalists it will be a night to remember as they sit down to a meal and then watch the awards cermenoy unfold in what promises to be an amazing night.
Our thanks go to our sponsors and everyone who has worked so hard behind the scenes to make tonight happen.
The finalists are:
Group or Project of the Year
VOCE, Keswick to Barrow walk, SAFA

Young Citizen
Ryan Bickle, Katherine Pugh, Ellie Larsen

Sports Volunteer
Paul Kell, John Jefferson, Colin Knight

Communtiy Focussed Business
Lisa Hart (Kidfest), Deemon Dance, Cheeky Monkeys Childcare

Apprentice / Trainee of the Year
Jake Newton, Jennifer Christie, Omar Echehamta

Citizen of the Year
Julie & Gavin Andrews, Joe Wardman, Irene Crabtree

Teacher of the Year
Ruth Squires, Mike Walsh, Craig Rutherford

Carer of the Year
Lee Winter, Janet Bury, Beverly Dixon

Environment Award
Pat Denny, Morecambe Bay Partnership, Barrow Park Rangers

Courage Award
Jo-Ann Ellis, Gill Tyson, Diana Burns

ALL WINNERS I’M SURE YOU’LL AGREE!

We look forward to welcoming them all on the red carpet – you can follow events live on Twitter, Facebook and The Bay Radio.

UPDATE: The People’s Choice Award and Voting

Love Barrow Admin

First off. Wow! In just over 24 hours we have had 1,366 qualified votes… It is very clear that the People’s Choice Award is something that the people of the Barrow Borough want! Thank you all for getting behind the finalists and taking time to vote for them. What isn’t so clear is who is going to win! The voting is very close… very tense as we watch the votes come in at Love Barrow HQ!

However, some people’s enthusiasm has gotten the better of them and they have been voting for the same finalist multiple times. To the extreme! We kept the system as open as possible to allow for multiple votes across the board so people could vote for multiple finalists as well as allow a reasonable amount of multiple votes for individual finalists. We are all used to this style of voting system from ‘X-Factor’ and ‘Strictly’.

In the last 24 hours though we have had a HUGE volume of votes from a few email addresses. This skews the voting results quite badly and turns ‘The People’s Choice’ into ‘The Person’s Choice’ which although doesn’t break any rules, does go against the spirit of the award. As the vote is free there is no limiting factor (such as the cost of a text or phone call in TV voting).

So a few calls have been made to the committee and they have decided to place a cap on multiple votes from the same email. In the interest of preventing any abuse of this cap, we aren’t going to announce what that cap is although rest assured it is a sensible number and if you have already voted multiple times… some of those votes will be counted as long as they are below the cap.

This cap means that every finalist is treated the same, avoiding favouritism while at the same time not completely overturning the hours(!) some people have spent in voting for their favourite finalist.

We want the People’s Choice Award to be fun. We want the finalists to see the community get behind them and show how much of a difference they make. We also want the People’s Choice Award to be fair and based on merit rather than who can vote the most number of times.

Keep voting. Keep sharing. Keep encouraging others to vote. We all know that every finalist deserves recognition and are all worthy winners.

That is what makes them finalists!

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[ideabox]Remember: If you want to vote please use the voting form, not the comment box or Facebook page![/ideabox]

New Award for 2016: The People’s Choice Award!

Love Barrow Admin

Every year the Love Barrow team are asked a simple question:

“How can people vote for the nominee they want to win?”

Until now, we have not been able to answer that question.  The nominees for each category are provided by you, the community, and then judged by the voting panel, made up of committee members, previous winners and sponsors.  This was a conscious decision, to make the judging about the nominees and the work they do rather than a popularity contest.

Yet it is clear that the community wanted something we were not providing.  We take that seriously.

So, we came up with the People’s Choice Award, a new award that is solely chosen by you in addition to the judged categories.  We are all really excited by this new award as it is an opportunity for the community to get involved in the judging process.  It is a chance for you to get your voice heard to support the nominees you want to win.

The People’s Choice Award is an on line vote, the candidates are the short-listed finalists from each category.  The closing date for voting is February 21st and the winner, decided by the most votes, will be announced on the awards night, March 11th.

The vote is open to anyone who wants a nominee to win the People’s Choice Award… It doesn’t matter if you are outside the Barrow Borough!  If you want a nominee to win the People’s Choice Award you can and should vote for them.

The on line vote is free and you can vote as many times as you want.  Each vote is qualified as a ‘real person’ by email.

Many of our local community heroes don’t know how special they are and what a difference they make.  They certainly don’t shout about what they do.  You can help them by encouraging others to vote by sharing links and the text codes on Facebook and Twitter, supporting the nominee you would like to receive the People’s Choice Award.

You can vote here!

[ideabox]Remember please use the voting form to vote, not the comments box or Facebook page.[/ideabox]

The 2016 Love Barrow Awards – Apprentice / Trainee Award

Love Barrow Admin

Jennifer Christie, Omar Echehamta and Jake Newton make up the three finalists in the Apprentice or Trainee of the year category in the 2016 Love Barrow Awards.

Jennifer Christie is a Business Support Apprentice working for Cumbria County Council supporting all aspects of Childrens Services. She has been with the organisation for just over a year and is a valued member
The nomination form told us that Jennifer is quick at learning with the ability to think outside the box and possesses excellent communication skills. Jennifer joined the department at a time of great change and transitions in ways of working, Jennifer has helped embrace the changes and helped others within the department.

Omar Echehamta  has been involved in North Walney Primary School since his children started school. The
teachers noticed how good he was at relating to children and asked him if he could help out in classes. Omar willingly volunteered in school and really enjoyed working with children.
His experience of volunteering in school led him to apply for an apprenticeship scheme through Lancaster & Morcambe college. Omar completed his level 2 childcare qualification in July this year and has now started his Level 3 qualification through Furness College. Omar is enthusiastic and committed to caring for children. He is a great male role model for the children in school and is well respected by the children and adults that he works with.

Jake Newton  has truly been a star throughout his time at Furness College. He was fortunate to receive an apprenticeship through BAE Systems in the Easter intake. Jake has always been willing to join in with College activities, during the Christmas fund raising, Jake lead a group who run a stall – his enthusiasm was infectious and soon the whole group were surrounded by customers.

Jake has always been willing to share his knowledge with others in class and is always willing to give opinions and to start discussions. Jake’s work in the workshop has always been of a very high standard, he has enjoyed the challenges of new tasks. “Nothing ever seems too much trouble for Jake a truly exceptional student. “

Three great finalists I’m sure you’ll agree and very difficult to choose an overall winner! We look forward to joining all three at the awards evening in March when all the Love Barrow Award finalists receive their accolades as finalists and winners.

 

The 2016 Love Barrow Awards – Environment Award

Love Barrow Admin

Time for some blog updates – I’ve been a little bit busy and have been caught out by the Love Barrow Awards main man John tweeting about this blog, so, quick, here we go…

The three finalists in the Environmental Award Category are:

Pat Denny, The Barrow Park-keepers and Morecambe Bay Partnership.

Pat Denny is well known in the local area for her love of wildlife and caring for animals, particularly birds, over many years.

Pat has transformed her home into a wildlife rehabilitation centre and haven where she nurses injured and sick animals back to health for release back into the wild. For birds that are unable to be released back, they spend their days in her aviaries.

She is over retirement age but continues to work to fund her good work with animals. She really is a dedicated and worthy Love Barrow Award nominee.

Barrow Park-keepers have been nominated for the work they undertake within the local park – it really is a wonder to see. The grass is always perfect, the flower beds are stunning, the whole place is a credit to the dedication of the team tasked with looking after it. As a regular at the weekly parkrun, I meet many people fro out of the area who come and visit our park to take part in the run – they always comment about what a stunning park we have here in Barrow and how it rivals any other in the country. Well done team!

Morecambe Bay Partnership is a small charity that makes BIG things happen. They are working hard to
bring benefits to the communities, heritage and environment around the Bay. To date, the Partnership has secured over £3.5M of external investment and are aiming to help secure £10M in the next 10 years to make
more great things happen. Recent projects include the Bay Cycle Way and bringing 2020Vision exhbition to the Bay.

They run a project called Love My Beach which encourages local communities and schools to get involved in environmental projects within their area, they also run the Dunes of Barrow Project, working closely with Natural England.

ALL THREE are great finalists, the winner will be announced at the awards night in March 2016, but in reality, they are all winners, well done all!