Deemon Performance Academy have made it to the final three for being a huge part of the local community and providing a fun and safe environment for young people to learn and older generations to be part of something in their community.
Deemon Performance Academy, run by Emma McMillan and her team, are based in Barrow-in-Furness, have a been a part of the community for several years, providing a safe and fun place for young people of all backgrounds and abilities to come and experience the joy of performance through signing, acting and dance but more than that they are a family to the local children and their families, who can turn to Deemon in tough times for support, advice and help or just pop along and enjoy the company and have a cup of tea.
The Deemon team encourage the young performers to be all that they can, and although they are there to learn dance, signing and acting skills, they go away with life skills such as confidence, 
courage and a feeling of self worth. Every child that leaves Deemon, believes in them self.
Deemon make sure that several places are reserved for people who are unable to send their child to a performance academy, making it possible for these opportunities to be available to any child.
The students of the academy, work hard to create the shows, which help them raise money which gets put back into the local community through charitable donations to local groups and projects such as the RNLI.
Emma McMillan, Head of Deemon says “…Every child is special to us, we try to make sure we can always give the free places away… It’s hard work but it’s always worth it when you see what a difference our young people can make in their communities and families, when they leave us with confidence and a sense of self-worth.”
TO VOTE FOR DEEMON IN THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
TEXT LBA8 to 82055
With thanks to Blake Henderson Ltd for sponsoring this award
Each text vote costs your normal network text message charge.
One free vote may be made online by visiting www.lovebarrowawards.co.uk/peopleschoice
Voting closes at 6.00pm on the Sunday 19th February 2017. Any votes received after then may be charged but will not be counted.
The winner will be announced at The Love Barrow Awards on Friday 10th March 2017 and will be announced via Facebook and Twitter also.
Imagine Independence has made it into the finals for the great work they do with people who are disabled and are seeking voluntary work, work experience or even paid employment.
The company is run with a team that includes Daniel Austin. The team at Lake District Farmers decided that they would like to make sure they gave back to the communities that they live, work and raise their families in and in memory of the founder of the company, set up the Ray Armstrong Foundation. So, every month the company donates money to a chosen local charity in the area. The charities and people are suggested by the staff and then with the whole team together, they decide on who will benefit that month. Daniel says “…it is a difficult meeting as there are so many great deserving charities, groups and people out there, some of the stories have me and the team in tears…”
Based 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.