From Longtown to Walney and St Bees to Brough, Cumbrians are being asked to nominate those people who go the extra mile for their communities for the 2008 Community Awards that are being run by the County Council.
The Cumbria Community Awards will recognise and celebrate the work done by hundreds of volunteers around the county.
Cumbria County Council is committed to encouraging active citizenship and volunteering as a clear expression of the active engagement of individuals in our society. Third Sector organisations cover the full cross section of society. They engage with large scale environmental projects, supporting schools, police and health care services; they provide specialist self-help and expert advice and support; they run community events, sports, culture and arts projects; they also provide localised resident support and activism. They can be geographic, special interest, single purpose or a combination.
Sponsors already signed up are Adult Social Care, Resource Cumbria, Children’s Service, Cumbria Fire & Rescue, and Chairman of Cumbria County Council.
Nominations will be sought for individuals who give their time and commitment to support their community as Volunteer and Young Volunteer of the Year, with further awards for groups and individuals in these categories:
- Learning
- Children &Young Peoples award
- Active Older People
- Safer Communities
- Stronger Communities
- Greener Communities
- Active Communities
- Community Business
The final award will reflect the diversity of Cumbria's communities for projects that help to make Cumbria a place where people get on well together:
- Chairman’s Award –Connecting Communities
The awards are been launched week commencing 4th August and nominations will remain open until the end of September. The gala dinner and awards ceremony takes place on the 13th November at Rheged, near Penrith.
All information about the launch of the awards will be available on both the County Council and Cumbria Newspapers websites.
Nominations will open on 14 August and close just over a month later on 30 September.
Nomination forms can be downloaded from the website or people can contact:
Cumbria Community Awards 2008
Newspaper House
Dalston Road
Carlisle
CA2 5UA
Tel: 01228 612600
Finalists will be notified during the week beginning the 6th October and be invited to attend on November 13th.
Cumbria County Council's Leader Tim Stoddard said:
"These awards are a fantastic opportunity for people of all ages to get the recognition they deserve. We want to know about the unsung heroes in Cumbria who put others before themselves. So much of the good work carried out by people in this county goes on undetected because it is usually free of charge and difficult to gauge. These awards are a chance for us to formally pay tribute to these pillars of the community and give them the attention they deserve."
Cllr Gary Strong, cabinet member responsible for the voluntary sector and Community Development, said: "The voluntary sector is crucial to ensuring that communities and services continue to develop across the whole county. There are so many people across the county who work tremendously hard in their community and we want them so given the recognition they thoroughly deserve. I think we should all support and celebrate the work of these workers and these awards are an ideal opportunity to recognise the vital roles they play in the lives of Cumbrians.
Cumbria County Council's chief executive Peter Stybelski said: "There is no doubt in my mind that Cumbrians are amongst the most giving people in the country, and we can see that from the fact that we have around 3000 voluntary and community organisations that are very active. We want to promote the huge difference volunteers make to the social and economic well being of the county. Please let us know if a friend, relative or neighbour deserves recognition for all their hard work."
ENDS
Media enquiries to Media Officer Chris Little on 01228 226334.