Category: Darren’s Blog

Lynda selflessly gives of her time and generosity to inspire children, staff and the local community week after week after week. She visits Dalton St Mary’s CE Primary School every week to work with children on the garden and wildlife area and has been doing so on a volunteer basis for almost 2 years. She never asks for anything in return and is absolutely always positive.

She works with the gardening club children whatever the weather. She comes up with a general plan of what needs doing each week and leads the children through each task. She allows them to learn, to problem solve, to lead each other and each of them try a different skill each week.

Lynda is an outstanding member of the community. Not only does Lynda visit the school every week to work with the gardening club, she also last year gave up an afternoon a week to help with a Forest Schools activity with a class. She took groups of children into the garden and wildlife area, sharing her extensive knowledge with the children.

Some of them had never before identified a plant or nurtured a flower and having specialist knowledge available was really appreciated.

As anyone who understands gardening will appreciate, it is not a weekly job, its a daily job. Even when the children are on holiday, Lynda is working away in the gardens to keep them ticking over ready for when the children come back. The school worked towards several competitions last year and Lynda gave up her weekends and holidays to keep everything watered so the children’s hard work wouldn’t be
wasted.

Lynda is also always researching ideas, planning what will be good to plant so that the children see the fruits of their labour. She also makes sure that there are always plants to nurture and jobs to do throughout the year so that the children’s interest is kept.

Lynda is key in planning the next exciting developments of the grounds and is excited  about the next phase of the gardening club expansion!

Congratualtions Lynda on your nomination and….

BREAKING NEWS – congratulations on making it to the final three in this category, see you on the red carpet at the Forum in March!

Vicky is a hard working nursery manager who always ensures that she is providing the best possible childcare and education for her children. Not only does Vicky support the children in her setting she also has excellent relationships with parents/carers which enables her to provide guidance and support for the whole family.

Vicky is a full time working manager and she still feels it is necessary to work nights and weekends to ensure she is doing all she can for the children and families in her care. She is dedicated and passionate about her job which has a positive impact on children’s learning and development. All children make excellent progress within the nursery and reach their age appropriate targets. This would not be possible without Vicky’s enthusiasm and determination.

Vicky believes that no matter what every child will shine at Roose nursery.

“Vicky is a caring and friendly individual who is 100% dedicated to her job. She is an excellent role model for children,families and colleagues.”

Working very closely with Lisa Scott who is the county service manager for Action for Children has enabled her to access extra curricular activities for the children, specialist courses for parents/carers and training for her collegues.

 

18 months ago Vicky applied for funding from Cumbria county council for a new Eco lodge nursery as since opening the nursery in 2011 it has always been oversubscribed. This application was rejected but after providing statistics, petitions and evidence Cumbria county council agreed to part fund the build.

Vicky has put in lots of extra hours and sleepless nights writing for additional funding for the new build.without her commitment this again would not be possible. Vicky has been working alongside planners, department of education and Lisa Scott from action for children making sure that she is creating the best provision to meet all children and families needs. Vicky believes the new nursery will not only be beneficial for vulnerable two year olds but will also benefit various barrow community groups.

Well done Vicky on your nomination and…

BREAKING NEWS – congratualtions on making it to the final three in this category, see you on the red carpet at the Forum in March!

 

What are you like! The deadline for Love Barrow Awards 2015 nominations is fast approaching and suddenly everybody is submitting nominations! Not to worry, we can handle it – you’ve still got until midnight on Sunday to get them in, so join the rush and make sure you hit the deadline!

So what have we got in the #LBA inbox to tell you about? Plenty! Here goes!

SUE GASSON from Barrow Sixth Form College – nominated for TEACHER OF THE YEAR.

AMANDA SHEPERD from the Glen Garth residential home in Barrow nominated for CARER OF THE YEAR.

THE CATERING DEPARTMENT at FGH nominated for COMMUNITY FOCUSSED BUSINESS OF THE YEAR for their work with “Meals on Wheels”.

DAVE RYDER from BARROW AFC nominated for SPORTS VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR.

JOHN SHERWEN from Duddon Canoe Club has also been nominated for the SPORTS award.

GEORGIA STANWAY, the local England football star nominated for YOUNG CITIZEN OF THE YEAR.

NIKKI STOKER, physiotherapist at the child development center in FGH for CARER OF THE YEAR.

PAT BOWES for CARER OF THE YEAR and finally SUZIE B for COMMUNITY FOCUSSED BUSINESS.

I told you we were busy!

Feel free to add to the list and give the judges a real headache come judgment day on Tuesday – remember, nominations close at midnight on Sunday.

 

 

 

The Bay is at the heart of the communities we serve and understand the importance of being active partners with the local community.

The Bay have a fantatsic record of supporting local charity events int he Furness area and bend over backwards to help these. With The Bay brand and its on air promotions, this all helps with these special events and helps the charities raise a lot of money and support. They have also become a hub for smaller localised events.

These can be promoted free of charge on their website and they also get a mention on air. The Bay is more than a radio station, it is the hub all of all things great acroos the area, including the Furness peninsula.

The Bay radio is worthy of a nomination for the Love Barrow Awards as they put so much back into the community on a regular basis, as the say “localness is in our DNA”.

This year they have supported many things, that without their drive and committement may not happen. They are desperately working to get the Barrow Carnival back, hopefully a similar success to the Morecambe carnival (again they were lead on bringing this great event back).

Projects The Bay have supported or driven include Christmas lights, Reach for the Stars, Love Barrow Awards, Cancer charity events, supporting local football clubs and none league clubs and other charity events.

Many times the presenters help at small local fund raising events to help boost numbers and money.

The Bay promote our fantastic area, support local businesses and create a feel good factor in our communities.

BREAKING NEWS – congratulations on making it to the final three in this category, see you on the red carpet at the Forum in March!

Since August 2013 John Watson has been active in persuading people to join him at North Walney Nature Reserve to pick litter from the beach. This has taken place every weekend with a break for the breeding season and the team have collected over 1,555 Kg of litter from just one mile of beach in the year!

John, a Barrow man, is the Marine Health & Safety lead and North Sea Environmental advisor at Centrica and respresents Centrica on the Furness Waste Consortium. During the weekends he is down on the beach with his litter pickers, not just picking the litter but analysing the waste to develop educational programmes to reduce the amount of rubbish that is either dropped, flushed away or thrown overboard.

Even though John’s work has now meant a  move to Aberdeen, he still gets back when he can, which is most weekends, to continue his local work in the Furness area. North Walney Nature Reserve warden, Steve Benn, said “John is the driving force for getting others to help out to collect the litter”.

Everyone in the area benefits from John’s work and the benefits to wildlife are huge, the litter can be harmful to wildlife as well as being unsightly to tourists and members of the public.

Keep up the good work John and well done to you and your team on the Love Barrow Award nomination and….

BREAKING NEWS – congratulations on making it to the final three in this category, see you on the red carpet at the Forum in March!

We’re into the last week for nominations in the 2015 Love Barrow Awards – the deadline is midnight on Sunday, so you’ve still got time to have a think and get your submissions in.

Nominations can be submitted online by following this link   (opens in a new window) and all of the category information is on that page.

In terms of the categories, despite a bumper pile of submissions for the judges to go through next week, we’re a bit low on numbers for the YOUNG CITIZEN OF THE YEAR category – so if you know someone under the age of 18 who is doing great work in the local community then we’d love to hear about them!

Watch the blog this week for details of the latest submissions – we’ve still got a good few to tell you about!

Local girl Kairen Thackrah has been nominated in two categories in the Love Barrow Awards – for both Carer and Young Citizen.

Kairen selfless actions on 7th april 2014 were she was walking towards Barrow when an unknown female collapsed without warning and Kairen checked her over and went stright into doing CPR on the female. Whilst doing this she was summoning ambulance service. Minutes later ambulance inattendance and the female was taken to FGH along with Karen still helpping with CPR in the ambulance.

She dealt with the above situation with no thought to herself and this has spared her to do first aid training at BAE First Aid corps and wanting to become a paramedic.

Kairen is a very caring, mature young person who is interested in and now studying to become a paramedic. She has voluntarily supported first aid in the community, especially around first response.

Congratulations Kairen on your nomination and….

BREAKING NEWS – congratulations on making it to the final three in both Young Citizen and Courage categories! See you on the red carpet at the Forum in March!

Despite being just 7 years old, Ella put her summer holidays to good use by organising “Ella’s Super Cycle” and cycling 200 miles , raising both money and awareness for local charity Alice’s Escapes.

Ella set off on her mission with a goal of being “helfpul, kind and getting fit”

Ella was inspired to raise money for Alice’s Escapes after hearing about Alice at school – Ella’s Mum said the story had a profound effect on young Ella, with the realisiation of how many children are affected by serious and terminal illnesses. In preparation for the challenge, Ella requested a bike for her 7th birthday.

Families with seriously ill children will benefit from Ella’s fundraising as she has raised over £2000 for Alice’s Escapes which provides such families with holidays and breaks.

Ella didn’t jsut sit back and rely on the money coming in, she actively worked for it – she gave presentations at shcool and visited the charity offices to find out more about their work. She recorded an online blog about her exploits and recorded lovely videos of her journey to publicise the fundraising effort.

Ella has continued with her  fundraising, recently dressing as a witch and selling Halloween treat bags in the village to raise more money for the charity.

Ella effectively gave up her summer holiday and committed to a six week cycling schedule to help others – amazing and inpsiring for a seven year odl girl – well done Ella on your nomination and…

BREAKING NEWS – congratulations on making it to the final three in this category, see you on the red carpet at the Forum in March!

The latest COURAGE AWARD nomination is for three officers from Cumbria Constabulary who have shown courage and professionalism after they tackled and arrested an armed gang in Barrow-in-Furness

PC Glenn Myerscough, PC Kevin Latham and PC Andrew MacFarlane demonstrated immeasurable courage and resilience in dealing with the three men one of whom was armed with a loaded gun while another was carrying a large knife.

The Officers have received the Chief Constables Commendation and were nominated in the National Police Bravery Awards for their work in tackling the armed gang.

The officers in carrying out their day to day duties have worked together demonstrating immeasurable courage and resilience in the face of very real personal danger. The details of officers’ bravery and professionalism and these incidents highlight the courage and dedication of the officers serving the people of Cumbria.

Thankfully, incidents like the one that these officers exhibited such bravery in are few and far between in Barrow, but to know we have such brave and dedicated professionals serving to protect the public is a great reassurance.

Well done all three on your nomination for a Courage award and….

BREAKING NEWS – congratulations on making it to the final three in this category, see you on the red carpet at the Forum in March!