7/8/2007 - Search is on for community heroes : Cumbria County Council

Cumbrians are being asked to nominate the people who give the most to their communities for a new series of awards being run by the county council.

The Cumbria Community Awards will recognise and celebrate the work done by scores of volunteers around the county.

A total of 13 awards will be presented at a ceremony to be held at Rheged near Penrith on November 1st.

The 13 categories up for nomination are:

- Young Volunteer of the Year (under 18 years)

- Volunteer of the Year

- Safer Communities Award

Under the banner 'Building Strong Communities':

- Children and Young People's Award

- Education and Learning Award

- Young Carers Award

- Older People Award

- Social Enterprise Award

- Healthy Living Award

And 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

Nominations will open on Friday 10th August and close just over a month later on Monday 17th September. Nomination forms can be downloaded from the website detailed above or people can contact:

Cumbria Community Awards

St Andrew's Churchyard

The finalists will be notified during the week beginning the 8th October and be invited to attend on November 1st.

Cumbria County Council's Leader Tim Stoddard said:

"The breadth and scope of the awards covers all age ranges and types, so we hope there could be potential winners in every community. We want to know about the unsung heroes who put others before themselves. A lot of the good work carried out by people in Cumbria goes on below the radar - it is free of charge, informal and difficult to gauge. We want to formally pay tribute to these pillars of the community."

Cllr Roger Bingham, cabinet member responsible for culture and communities, said:

"The voluntary sector is the backbone of our services and is crucial to ensure thriving communities and services across the county. Cumbria is one of five 'pathfinder' areas in the country that has been selected to explore ways in which the Third Sector can add value to the delivery of local services. There are unique challenges to achieving this in a rural environment and the fact that it is thriving is testimony to the hard work put in by all the individuals we're recognising in these awards."

Cumbria County Council's chief executive Peter Stybelski said:

"Cumbrians are some of the most giving people in the country. We can see that from the number of voluntary and community organisations that are very active here. We want to recognise 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 of yours deserves recognition for all their hard work."

- There are 3,000 organisations in Cumbria registered with the Charity Commission.

- 17% of Cumbrians are either employed or active volunteers.

- At present around £25m public sector support is provided to the voluntary and community sector in Cumbria, over £20m of this is through the County Council. Support comes in the form of grants, service level agreements and commissioning of services.

Media enquiries to Gareth Cosslett, News Manager on 01228 606332