Local community celebrated at Council ceremony
A Retired Squadron Leader, a charitable couple, an award-winning
radiographer, a local businessman and someone who helped out
residents following the January 2005 floods were the winners of
last night’s (Thursday, 6 March) Carlisle City Council Civic Awards
presentation.
The awards have been the highlight of the Civic Dinner since
2002 and this year’s winners were:
Retired Squadron Leader Tony Parrini received an MBE in 2007 for
his services to the community, helping the Royal British Legion,
the RAF Association and the Christian Ecumenical Movement. He is
also soon to be the Rotary Club’s district governor, serving as
leader of all 75 Rotary Clubs in Cumbria and Lancashire. In
addition to his Rotary interests, he raised £15,000 to build the
Far East Air Force Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum.
From left to right: The Mayor of Carlisle, Cllr Mrs Elizabeth
Mallinson; Retired Squadron Leader Tony Parrini and Leader of
Carlisle City Council, Cllr Mike Mitchelson
John Nixon is a local businessman who led a Carlisle factory
into an unprecedented era as a world class tyre manufacturer,
overseeing several key developments to secure its long-term future
- he was instrumental in turning Pirelli, Carlisle into a centre of
excellence. Now Managing Director of Carlisle United, he is also
Co-Chair of the Carlisle Partnership Economic Development and
Enterprise Group as well as past President of Carlisle South Rotary
Club.
From left to right: The Mayor of Carlisle, Cllr Mrs Elizabeth
Mallinson; Leader of Carlisle City Council, Cllr Mike Mitchelson
and Trevor Hebdon (who picked up John Nixon's award on his
behalf)
Gail Jefferson was voted North West Radiographer of the Year.
She has been involved in the forensic identity of the victims of
the Lockerbie bombing, the deaths of the Morecambe Bay cockle
pickers and the July 7 London tube and bus explosions. She works at
the Cumberland Infirmary and lectures at St Martin’s College,
Lancaster.
From left to right: The Mayor of Carlisle, Cllr Mrs Elizabeth
Mallinson; Gail Jefferson and Leader of Carlisle City Council, Cllr
Mike Mitchelson
Major Mel Robinson provided much needed support to local
residents following the January 2005 floods in Carlisle as
President of Churches Together, in Carlisle. He, along with other
members of the Carlisle Temple Corp Salvation Army, has also
provided help and assistance to a Romanian orphanage in Bucharest
for the past 15 years. In October last year, they also took toys,
new beds and donated bedding, clothing and computers to stricken
residents of Ticuch, Romania which suffered from flooding earlier
in the year.
John and Joyce Hine were the final award winners are a local
Carlisle couple who were honoured for their combined 95 years of
voluntary service. Both are members of the Carlisle fundraising
branch of the county-wide organisation Cerebral Palsy Association
and one is also a member of the support workers action committee.
The Cerebral Palsy Association helps more than 200 individuals with
cerebral palsy and provides information and support to family,
friends and carers.
From left to right:John Hine; The Mayor of Carlisle, Cllr Mrs
Elizabeth Mallinson; Joyce Hine and Leader of Carlisle City
Council, Cllr Mike Mitchelson
Leader of the Council, Cllr Mike Mitchelson said:
"We established the Carlisle Civic Awards in 2002
as a way of recognising some of the outstanding contributions that
some of our citizens of Carlisle have made. The awards reflect the
drive and determination of people within our local communities.
"I’d like to pass on my congratulations to all
the winners and thank them all for their contribution to Carlisle
and all who live and work here."
This is the seventh year the Council has presented the Civic
Awards. The event was held at The Shepherds Inn, Carlisle.
Photographs courtesy of www.sjstudios.co.uk