Cumbrians have a genius for voluntary work and community action. I would like to pay tribute to all those volunteers and local organisers that help to run a seemingly endless number of local community initiatives, from credit unions to care at home. Too often it can seem as though society is set in an immovable – if slightly wobbly – jelly of conventions, regulations and procedures that makes change feel almost impossible.
The solution in my view is to rediscover the energies of the local. If Cumbrians do not generally seem powerless, it is because they are often changing or protecting their surroundings. When I visit the village of Bampton, I am struck that nearly everyone seems to be involved in some local volunteer scheme or community initiative, be it a community library or a recycling scheme – and they are not the exception.
Local MP Rory Stewart had praised the extraordinary work of local carers and other non-profit organisations that help those with disabilities, after attending the Disability Information Day held in Rheged. Setup and coordinated by Cumbria Learning to Change, the event was the largest free exhibition in Cumbria, North East and the Borders dedicated to those […]
Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland close their special Fifteenth Anniversary Year by organising a wonderful evening at The Playhouse in Penrith. Rory Stewart MP for Penrith and the Border presents ‘Borderlands’. This special topic is about the Border country: it’s past history and present identity, based on Rory’s walk through Cumbria and along […]
Following his ongoing work on behalf of smaller local charities, and a campaign to simplify lengthy tendering and procurement processes, Rory has welcomed a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) which has highlighted the need for a more flexible approach to funding for small local charities. The report echoes the local MP’s […]
Rory has welcomed the news that both Wigton Youth Station and Eden Sight Support are to receive Big Lottery Fund grants to support their on-going work within the local community. Wigton Youth Station is to receive a £10,000 grant which will be used to fund weekly sessions with ‘hard to engage’ young women displaying anti-social […]
Rory raised the need to support contracts for small Cumbrian charities yesterday in a Westminster Hall debate on Local Government Procurement. He was emphasising the difficulties which small local charities face in competing with larger national providers in complex tendering processes at a County Council level. The debate built on Rory’s ongoing work with Carolyn […]
Rory is warning residents of Penrith and the Border to check they are giving to a registered charity when approached for donations this Winter. According to an independent ICM poll commissioned by the Charity Commission and the Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB), 2 in 5 adults across the UK do not make any checks when approached […]
A fundraising talk supported by the charity’s Patron Rory for Friends of the Lake District has been a complete sell-out, helping to raise over £3,500 for the charity’s conservation projects. Entitled ‘From Afghanistan to Eden’, Rory used the talk to share his experiences of both his now famous walk across Afghanistan back in 2002, and his more recent endeavours […]
Rory this week pledged his support for Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland in an online competition by Persimmon Homes, which is looking to offer one charitable organisation a house worth £250,000. In the competition, which is running until 20th September, the public is being encouraged to vote for the charity they deem to […]
Rory hosted an event in Parliament on 9th May to focus on the work of re-housing ex-service personnel in vacant housing stock by national organisation Riverside, which also operates in Penrith and the Border. The event was an opportunity to highlight the valuable work of the organisation across the country, which has been referenced in […]
Rory paid a visit to Penrith’s Devonshire Arcade, where national organisation ‘somewhereto_’ – a youth charity launched in association with the London 2012 Games and Channel 4 Education – had taken over the historic retail space in order to provide an environment for young people aged 16 – 25 to fulfil their creative ambitions doing the […]