People in Barrow are being given the chance to help decide how £85,000 of funding is shared among community groups in the town.

Residents are asked to bring their local knowledge and ideas to a series of workshops, to decide what kinds of projects the money should support and who should be able to apply.

The funding, managed by Cumbria Community Foundation, has been provided by Team Barrow’s Social Impact Fund, which aims to make Barrow a better place to live, work, study, visit, and invest in.

Those joining the community panel will be asked to take part in three workshops, where they will design the application process and talk about the difference they want to see the funding make.

Annalee Holliday, Head of Grants Practice and Programmes at Cumbria Community Foundation, said: “We’re incredibly grateful for the funding from Team Barrow’s Social Impact Fund, which is helping us bring a broader range of voices and real-life perspectives into our grant making. It’s a fantastic opportunity for people from all walks of life to get involved in shaping how funding is distributed across Barrow.

“Whether you have first-hand experience of the issues we fund, professional insight, or simply a passion for making a difference in your community, your voice matters. It’s a chance to learn, to share, and to make a real impact on local lives.

“We really hope people feel inspired to sign up – it’s rewarding, meaningful, and a great way to be part of something bigger.”

Nat Wealleans-Turner, Community and Social Impact Lead at Team Barrow said: “Team Barrow recognises and values the strength, passion, and expertise within our local communities. We believe it’s critical to involve local people from all backgrounds in shaping and guiding our work, as we deliver The Plan for Barrow — making Barrow a healthy, happy, and thriving place to live, work, and visit.

“We’re proud to partner with Cumbria Community Foundation, drawing on their extensive experience in grant making to manage this exciting part of our Social Impact Fund. This collaboration puts decision-making power in the hands of local people, enabling them to influence how the fund will operate and how funding is allocated making a real, lasting difference in their communities.

“We are excited to see what Barrovians have planned for the fund!”

The workshop dates are as follows, at Piel View House in Barrow Park on Abbey Road:

• Friday 4th July, 12pm – 4pm
• Friday 11th July, 1-4pm
• Friday 18th July, 1-4pm

For those wishing to be involved, support is available with childcare, travel arrangements, and translation. The venue will be fully accessible.

As a thank you for participants time and contribution, those who attend all three workshops will receive a voucher of their choice.

To take part or find out more, please get in touch with Laura Goad at Cumbria Development Education Centre on 015394 31602 or email: laura@cdec.org.uk. Alternatively, you can register using this link by 24th June.

Cumbria Community Foundation is delighted to announce that it has made the shortlist for this year’s Charity Awards, the longest running and most prestigious awards scheme in the charity sector.

The Foundation has been shortlisted in the Grantmaking & Funding category for its Transforming West Cumbria programme, co-created with and funded by Sellafield Ltd, which has generated £19.9m in social value since its launch in 2020.

The Charity Awards, which announces its shortlist today (16 May), is the sector’s most highly regarded excellence recognition scheme and is this year celebrating its 25th anniversary. All 30 shortlisted charities this year have been judged by an independent panel of sector leaders as having demonstrated best practice in leadership and management, from which other organisations can learn.

Transforming West Cumbria is a groundbreaking £6.5m grant making programme, developed to address the region’s toughest social challenges by working together with local partners.

Funded through the Sellafield Ltd social impact, multiplied (SiX) programme, it has delivered significant outcomes and impact across seven programme areas, including family wellbeing, mental health support, entrepreneurship, and community development.

A recent independent evaluation confirmed the programme’s success, revealing that Transforming West Cumbria has so far generated £19.9 million in social value – delivering an incredible £5.34 for every £1 invested across areas such as jobs created, savings from children not having to go into care, and improvements to mental health and wellbeing.

Dr Jenny Benson, Director of Programmes and Partnerships for Cumbria Community Foundation, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be recognised by the Chairty Awards for the Transforming West Cumbria programme, which is a shining example of partnership working. Thanks to Sellafield Ltd’s significant long-term investment, we have been able to co-create and deliver the Transforming West Cumbria programme with a range of voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) partners, to achieve great impact. Our collaborative approach has ensured that Transforming West Cumbria has remained responsive to the community’s needs, to bring about real and lasting change.”

Eirini Etoimou, Head of Corporate Sustainability & Supply Chain Development at Sellafield Ltd, said: “We know that Transforming West Cumbria has had wide-ranging, lasting impact on local communities since it was launched in 2020, as confirmed by the independent mid-programme evaluation. The programme has directly supported hundreds of local organisations and thousands of individuals and families, achieving significant outcomes in mental health support, financial wellbeing, early years development and many, many more areas.

 “It is wonderful to see this work recognised by the Charity Awards and we wish Cumbria Community Foundation and the Transforming West Cumbria team the best of luck for the awards ceremony.”

 The 10 category winners, plus the recipients of the Overall Award for Excellence and the Daniel Phelan Award for Outstanding Achievement, will be announced at a black-tie dinner on Thursday 3 July, held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London.

The evening will be hosted by BBC news presenter Asad Ahmad, who will be joined on the night by a host of celebrities, representatives of the shortlisted charities, as well as leaders from Britain’s best known and best loved charities.

Matthew Nolan, chief executive of Civil Society Media which organises the Charity Awards, congratulated Cumbria Community Foundation on making the highly-coveted shortlist. He said: “For a quarter of a century now, the Charity Awards has been showcasing and celebrating the terrific work of UK charities large and small.

 “At a time when the sector is struggling with higher costs, shrinking donations and ever-increasing demand for its work, it is reassuring and inspiring to see the extent and quality of charitable activity that is still going on across the country.

 “We offer our heartfelt congratulations to all the charities on this year’s shortlist; we know that times are tough and you should all be very proud of getting this far. We wish Cumbria Community Foundation the best of luck on the night.”

Peter Hugh Smith, chief executive at CCLA, Overall Partner of the Charity Awards, said: “Every year the Charity Awards serve as a moment for the sector to reflect and acknowledge the transformative power of compassion, determination and resilience. The awards amplify the voices of those making a difference, inspiring others to join in creating positive change.

 “We’re honoured to renew our role as the Charity Awards’ Overall Partner, championing the remarkable efforts of charities, large and small, right across the UK.”

The Shortlist 2025:

Animals & the environment
The Mayhew Home
StreetVet
Trees for Cities

Arts, culture & heritage
Kilmartin Museum
Scene & Heard
Services For Education

Campaigning & advocacy
Ashden Climate Solutions
The Donkey Sanctuary
National AIDS Trust

Children & youth
Delight Charity
MYTIME Young Carers
Spark Inside

Disability
The Brain Charity
icandance
National Autistic Society

Education & training
Get Further
Holocaust Education Trust
St John’s Hospice North Lancashire and South Lakes

Grantmaking & funding
Cumbria Community Foundation
Project Giving Back
Steve Morgan Foundation

Healthcare & medical research
4Louis
Friends of Moorfields Eye Hospital
Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse (STADA)

International aid & development
Alfanar Venture Philanthropy
Oxfam
Windle Trust International

Social care, advice & support
Advance Advocacy and Non Violence Community Education
Street Talk
Turning Tides Homelessness

The panel of judges for 2025 is:

• Chris Sherwood, chief executive, NSPCC (chair)
• André Clarke, director of charity development, Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales
• Martin Edwards, chief executive, Julia’s House
• Katie Ghose, chief executive, KIDS
• Gemma Gooch, head of charities distribution, Rathbones
• Richard Hawkes OBE, chief executive, British Asian Trust
• Jehangir Malik OBE, consultant and adviser to UNICEF South Asia
• Farah Nazeer, chief executive, Women’s Aid
• Cathy Phelan-Watkins, owner and chair, Civil Society Media
• Shane Ryan, senior adviser to the National Lottery Community Fund
• Sharika Sharma, head of business development, CCLA
• Dr Priya Singh, chair, NCVO and executive director, the Society for Assistance of Medical Families
• Julie Wilson-Dodd, transformation consultant
• Karin Woodley CBE, chief executive, Cambridge House

Cumbria Community Foundation is delighted to announce that it has made the shortlist for this year’s Charity Awards, the longest-running and most prestigious awards scheme in the charity sector.

The Foundation has been shortlisted in the Grantmaking & Funding category for its Transforming West Cumbria programme, co-created with and funded by Sellafield Ltd, which has generated £19.9m in social value since its launch in 2020.

The Charity Awards, which announces its shortlist today (16 May), is the sector’s most highly regarded excellence recognition scheme and is this year celebrating its 25th anniversary. All 30 shortlisted charities this year have been judged by an independent panel of sector leaders as having demonstrated best practice in leadership and management, from which other organisations can learn.

Transforming West Cumbria is a groundbreaking £6.5m grant making programme, developed to address the region’s toughest social challenges by working together with local partners.

Funded through the Sellafield Ltd social impact, multiplied (SiX) programme, it has delivered significant outcomes and impact across seven programme areas, including family wellbeing, mental health support, entrepreneurship, and community development.

A recent independent evaluation confirmed the programme’s success, revealing that Transforming West Cumbria has so far generated £19.9 million in social value – delivering an incredible £5.34 for every £1 invested across areas such as jobs created, savings from children not having to go into care, and improvements to mental health and wellbeing.

Dr Jenny Benson, Director of Programmes and Partnerships for Cumbria Community Foundation, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be recognised by the Chairty Awards for the Transforming West Cumbria programme, which is a shining example of partnership working. Thanks to Sellafield Ltd’s significant long-term investment, we have been able to co-create and deliver the Transforming West Cumbria programme with a range of voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) partners, to achieve great impact. Our collaborative approach has ensured that Transforming West Cumbria has remained responsive to the community’s needs, to bring about real and lasting change.”

Eirini Etoimou, Head of Corporate Sustainability & Supply Chain Development at Sellafield Ltd, said: “We know that Transforming West Cumbria has had wide-ranging, lasting impact on local communities since it was launched in 2020, as confirmed by the independent mid-programme evaluation. The programme has directly supported hundreds of local organisations and thousands of individuals and families, achieving significant outcomes in mental health support, financial wellbeing, early years development and many, many more areas.

 “It is wonderful to see this work recognised by the Charity Awards and we wish Cumbria Community Foundation and the Transforming West Cumbria team the best of luck for the awards ceremony.”

 The 10 category winners, plus the recipients of the Overall Award for Excellence and the Daniel Phelan Award for Outstanding Achievement, will be announced at a black-tie dinner on Thursday 3 July, held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London.

The evening will be hosted by BBC news presenter Asad Ahmad, who will be joined on the night by a host of celebrities, representatives of the shortlisted charities, as well as leaders from Britain’s best known and best loved charities.

Matthew Nolan, chief executive of Civil Society Media which organises the Charity Awards, congratulated Cumbria Community Foundation on making the highly-coveted shortlist. He said: “For a quarter of a century now, the Charity Awards has been showcasing and celebrating the terrific work of UK charities large and small.

 “At a time when the sector is struggling with higher costs, shrinking donations and ever-increasing demand for its work, it is reassuring and inspiring to see the extent and quality of charitable activity that is still going on across the country.

 “We offer our heartfelt congratulations to all the charities on this year’s shortlist; we know that times are tough and you should all be very proud of getting this far. We wish Cumbria Community Foundation the best of luck on the night.”

Peter Hugh Smith, chief executive at CCLA, Overall Partner of the Charity Awards, said: “Every year the Charity Awards serve as a moment for the sector to reflect and acknowledge the transformative power of compassion, determination and resilience. The awards amplify the voices of those making a difference, inspiring others to join in creating positive change.

 “We’re honoured to renew our role as the Charity Awards’ Overall Partner, championing the remarkable efforts of charities, large and small, right across the UK.”

The Shortlist 2025:

Animals & the environment
The Mayhew Home
StreetVet
Trees for Cities

Arts, culture & heritage
Kilmartin Museum
Scene & Heard
Services For Education

Campaigning & advocacy
Ashden Climate Solutions
The Donkey Sanctuary
National AIDS Trust

Children & youth
Delight Charity
MYTIME Young Carers
Spark Inside

Disability
The Brain Charity
icandance
National Autistic Society

Education & training
Get Further
Holocaust Education Trust
St John’s Hospice North Lancashire and South Lakes

Grantmaking & funding
Cumbria Community Foundation
Project Giving Back
Steve Morgan Foundation

Healthcare & medical research
4Louis
Friends of Moorfields Eye Hospital
Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse (STADA)

International aid & development
Alfanar Venture Philanthropy
Oxfam
Windle Trust International

Social care, advice & support
Advance Advocacy and Non Violence Community Education
Street Talk
Turning Tides Homelessness

The panel of judges for 2025 is:

• Chris Sherwood, chief executive, NSPCC (chair)
• André Clarke, director of charity development, Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales
• Martin Edwards, chief executive, Julia’s House
• Katie Ghose, chief executive, KIDS
• Gemma Gooch, head of charities distribution, Rathbones
• Richard Hawkes OBE, chief executive, British Asian Trust
• Jehangir Malik OBE, consultant and adviser to UNICEF South Asia
• Farah Nazeer, chief executive, Women’s Aid
• Cathy Phelan-Watkins, owner and chair, Civil Society Media
• Shane Ryan, senior adviser to the National Lottery Community Fund
• Sharika Sharma, head of business development, CCLA
• Dr Priya Singh, chair, NCVO and executive director, the Society for Assistance of Medical Families
• Julie Wilson-Dodd, transformation consultant
• Karin Woodley CBE, chief executive, Cambridge House

Two community projects in West Cumbria have received a financial boost from a charitable fund set up by a local engineering firm.

The Shepley Group Fund was established in 2009 by Whitehaven-based Shepley Engineers Limited to give grants to small, volunteer-led or community groups helping people facing disadvantage.

The fund, managed by Cumbria Community Foundation, has given out more than £125,000 in grants since then. The latest awards were to Child Bereavement UK and Workington Transport Heritage Trust.

Child Bereavement UK were awarded £2,000 to provide support for bereaved families in the Workington area, including one-to-one sessions, parental training and school awareness.

The national charity has a hub in Carlisle and currently offers outreach child bereavement services in Workington two days a week. The grant will enable them to increase this to three days per week.

A representative of the charity said: “We believe that in order for families to thrive they must have strong support networks. Therefore ,with the funding, we would also like to deliver an in-person training session for school staff to attend, helping them to understand a child’s grief behaviours, how to have challenging conversations and how to support children in their schools.

“We will run a further session for parents and carers to help build their confidence in supporting a grieving child.”

Workington Transport Heritage Trust received a grant of £750 towards the cost of running a heritage bus rally on Whitehaven Harbour this weekend.

Trust secretary Alistair Grey said: “Volunteers work all year to improve the mechanical condition of the vehicles. The event allows them to showcase the vehicles to the local community, while also benefiting the economy.

“There will be lots of buses on show running free services around the town, to St Bees, and further afield, with a frequent park-and-ride service from Lakes College. The free event features a display of locally restored and preserved buses including several Leyland Nationals built at Lillyhall.”

Ryan Christie, Operations Support Manager at Shepley Engineers Limited, said: “The Shepley Group are delighted that our fund with the Cumbria Community Foundation is able to support even more local organisations.

“Both Child Bereavement UK and Workington Transport Heritage Trust align to our social value strategy which outlines our commitment to supporting small voluntary and community groups and organisations to enable them to continue or expand their work in advocacy, community voice, and service provision for local people in the areas we operate.”

Annalee Holliday, Head of Grants Practice and Programmes at Cumbria Community Foundation, said: “We are so grateful to The Shepley Group for enabling us to support projects across Cumbria which make a real difference to local communities.”

Cumbria Community Foundation gives around £7 million in grants a year to local charities and voluntary groups through over 100 grant making funds set up by generous businesses, individuals and families.

To find out more about setting up a fund and supporting those in need in Cumbria, contact Development Manager Caroline Adams on 01900 820825 or email caroline@cumbriafoundation.org.