North West Copeland Forum Area

Community Activity

There are numerous examples of community projects that the forum has supported within the area, The Distington Victorian Walled Garden being one of the more unusual ones. This community enterprise has been running for some six years and has created four jobs in an area of high unemployment. The project provides nationally recognised horticultural training for a wide range of local people, produces fruit and vegetables grown on organic lines for local food co-ops and is in the process of restoring a large kitchen garden. For more information contact: Aidan Wilcox on 01946 834645.

The Give and Take Project based at the Youth Centre in Distington has proved to be really successful and has managed to engage over seventy young people in the forum area. The project provides an opportunity for young people to `earn' points by carrying out work that is beneficial to the community, e.g. spending time with the elderly, litter picking, etc. The young person can then exchange the points to take part in a trip out bowling or an outdoor adventure weekend for example.

For more information contact: Christine Jones on 01946 832882.
Lowca Youth Action - The group has been running for around 6 months and is holding activities such as village discos, educational and sporting trips, specifically football, and coaching and trips. The young people of Lowca requested summer Activity Days and these are planned to take place in July in the Village Hall. There will be activities such as arts and crafts, indoor and outdoor games/sports covering ages from 4 to 11 years, there will also be a day trip to Blackpool. Contact Mary-Anne Lancaster 01946 592140 for further information.

Parton Youth Club was formed last year when 25 young people attended a meeting of the Parton Village Hall Community Association to discuss starting a youth group. The young people themselves decided on activities they would like available and agreed a shopping list of, pool table, dart board art and crafts materials, which will be purchased with a grant from the neighbourhood forum, there will also be drama and cookery sessions. The Club has eight volunteers, which is excellent but more males are needed to balance the numbers. If anyone is interested in joining the youth group or training as a volunteer please contact Valda Young on 01946 65425.

Wheels 2 Work is a scooter loan scheme aimed a helping young people in Copeland overcome transport barriers, and access employment, training or education opportunities
For more information contact Wheels 2 Work Project Co-ordinator Julia Mullarkey 
Tel: 07799798278.

North Cumbria Community Transport - Minibus Brokerage Scheme
Brokerage is a minibus-sharing scheme, which enables groups and organisations within the community to use accessible and affordable vehicles. For more information contact Copeland Area Transport Co-ordinator Helen Sullivan on 01946 812777.

Copeland Rail Users Group (CRUG), which was formed in 2003, wish to see improvements to the quality of the rail service, its' infrastructure and the way it is perceived. The members of CRUG have an interest in the rail service from Carlisle to Barrow and more specifically from Whitehaven to Millom; membership consists of regular users, occasional users and would-be users, all of who have an interest in the Coastal Railway. For further details contact Tony Potts on 01946 694065 or Dave Smith on 01946 855022.

Forum Area

The North West Copeland Forum area covers a largely rural area to the north of Whitehaven in which the `urban' villages of Distington, Pica, Moresby Parks, Lowca and Parton are situated.

There are few employment opportunities within the forum area and the majority of the working population travel outwith the area to work.

The population of the forum area is approximately 5,300 with there being a noticeable and continuing decline in the population of the Distington ward over the last ten years.

Transport is a major issue within the forum area with the busy A595 a constant cause for concern. When road-works are undertaken on the main road, as seems to happen on a regular basis, many of the villages become `rat-runs' for motorists trying to avoid delays.