23 Annual Community Awards
Presented at the Mayor of Carlisle’s Civic Dinner,
The Mail Room, The Halston Hotel, Carlisle - Thursday 16 March 2023
Barbara Bray
Barbara is an outstanding member of the community having served as a member of the Lowry Hill Residents Association for many years. She can be relied on to do jobs that many would shy away from.
In recent years her forte has been as the editor of the quarterly publication of the LHRA newsletter. The publication has to be seen to be believed. It is always packed with local news, features, and other interesting material, and all the households in the neighbourhood look forward to the next issue dropping through their letterboxes! The various articles are always of great interest to the readership.
Barbara believes in local people being kept up to date, not only with the work of the LHRA, but with activities of many other organisations and the schools on the estate.
As if the time-consuming editorship was not enough, she can still find time to organise competitions such as the best front garden on the estate and the outstanding outdoor Christmas Lights display competition.
She is a community champion of the highest order and well deserves praise for all her hard work.
Dr John Campbell
John did amazing work during the pandemic, keeping people informed both locally, nationally, and internationally via his informative, accessible and balanced daily videos regarding Covid-19, its impact, and potential treatments.
The reassurance, desire for more information, and comparative experiences of other countries, met an essential need for evidence-based information to be readily available to both local residents and wider audiences.
It is amazing that all this was happening in Carlisle, from a back bedroom in John’s home in Lowry Hill. His ‘voice’ and contribution is widely respected and we should be proud that as a Carlisle resident he has made such an essential contribution during what we all know was a challenging and difficult time.
James (Jim) Douglas
James (Jim) Douglas who for four decades has worked tirelessly to support the health and wellbeing of the Carlisle community.
Jim arrived in Carlisle in 1984 to join the team managing the newly opened Sands Centre. From the outset, his vision was for a centre for the community, which enabled users to develop their own wellbeing through fitness, exercise, and leisure.
The Sands quickly became known for its events and entertainment calendar as well as for its activities programme.
Fast forward to 2016, and Jim, by now well into retirement, joined the board of Carlisle Sports, which runs the sports facilities at the Harraby Community Campus.
In 2019 he became Chairman. Together with GLL, Jim masterminded the activities programme at Harraby. Just as at the Sands Centre almost 40 years before, Jim was tireless in his pursuit of the highest standards of provision for the community.
Many might have thought that Jim’s retirement was full enough, but when the company running Stony Holme golf course failed in 2018, Jim immediately came to the rescue, taking over the running of the course and piloting it successfully through the challenges of flooding and Covid, to make it the thriving community facility that it is today.
In retirement as when at work, Jim has always put the needs of the community at the centre of his thinking. He has given unstintingly of his time, energy, and wide experience to provide the very best community wellbeing facilities for his home City.
Unfortunately, Jim cannot be with us this evening, we will arrange for him to receive his award at a later date.
Friends of Hammond's Pond
The winners of this award are Hammond’s Pond, also known as Upperby Park, was opened as a Pleasure land in May 1923, by local resident Archie Hammond. A former brick-pit, his vision was to create a place where Carlisle residents could enjoy fresh air and activities, to improve health and wellbeing for local families.
The Friends of Hammond’s Pond was formed in 1995, when a group of local people came together to campaign for improvements to the park in order to continue the vision of Archie Hammond and ensure that it could continue to be a place that could be enjoyed for generations to come.
The Friends worked with the Council, Carlisle & District Model Engineering Society who run trains in the park and other community groups to put together a plan and raise funds for regeneration of the park. A successful award from the Heritage Lottery Fund made a huge difference and together, the Friends and the Council were able to start the programme of improvements.
Since that time the Friends of Hammond’s Pond have developed into a very proactive group of volunteers who regularly meet to discuss ideas and put them into action. The group help with lots of maintenance activities including litter picking, working days to do painting and tackle invasive weeds, and also keeping a watchful eye on the welfare of wildlife.
The Friends put on lots of events throughout the year, and work hard to raise the funds needed to do their work and a highlight in 2022 was when a generous donation was received from a local resident and member of the Friends, to fund a magnificent steel artwork of swans which now has pride of place in the pond.
The group is led by the dedicated Chair/Secretary Sally Ford, who is ably supported by other members of the Friends Group who willingly give their time and skills to make the group such a success. The volunteers have been active for almost thirty years and deserve to be recognised for all their hard work and commitment.
Yvonne Harland
Yvonne has a great community spirit and has served on almost every committee in the village of Dalston and was responsible for setting up the ‘Buddy’ programme during the Covid pandemic.
The ‘Buddy’ programme was a lifeline for many residents during what was a very stressful and isolating time.
It was very well received in the village and many residents were involved. It was a wonderful idea, people helping people especially for those whose family lived away.
Yvonne is a very special person and deserves the recognition she is receiving tonight.
Callie Morris
Callie has worked for Carlisle Mencap for five years, joining the organisation as a support worker in 2017 and has worked in a number of services supporting adults, and most recently, children with a Learning Disability or Autism.
Callie was diagnosed with cancer in March 2020 but despite her own health challenges, her inspirational drive and determination to make a tangible difference to the lives of the people she supports is commendable. She is a positive disruptor with a lived connection to the children she supports. This sets her apart from her peers.
Callie was promoted to Children’s Service Manager in August 2022, and despite a fortnightly round of chemotherapy, was determined to continue to work condensing her working hours to accommodate her treatment. In this time, Callie was solely responsible for creating an in-house volunteering programme for young people transitioning to adulthood, developed a gaming room at Grace Little Centre, and generated donations of equipment and sourced funding to buy the gaming consoles.
Callie’s tenacity is inspiring and her desire to learn fast and grow big is inspiring.