Carnforth's Covid-19 heroes honoured at special online ceremony

Some of the people involved in the Carnforth awards evening.

The Zoom event for the recipients of the Carnforth Citizen of Merit Award was held on Thursday evening, and saw more than 40 of the 94 award winners taking part and being thanked on behalf of Carnforth Town Council, the sponsors of the award, by town mayor Kath Bromilow.

Kath’s moving and poignant tribute to the people chosen, many of them volunteers and key workers who had selflessly helped others in the community during the first phase of the pandemic, was echoed by the leader of Lancaster City Council, Coun Erica Lewis, and her colleague Mark Davies, director of communities and the environment for the city council.

In response, Liam Law and Andrea Wren, founder members of the Carnforth Covid-19 Local Volunteer Group - both of whom received the award - thanked the town council, their fellow volunteers and all of the other organisations that had come together to meet the challenge of the pandemic to help the old and more vulnerable members of the local community.

The much-valued work of the volunteers has not stopped and will continue indefinitely.

The night was rounded off by all 94 of the Citizen of Merit winners being named and their individual Certificates of Merit displayed on screen.

This was followed by a gallery of photographs - set to the music of McFly's 'All about you' - highlighting the activities and people of the Carnforth community in 2020.

Town councillor Jim Grisenthwaite, who had originally suggested the creation of the award in order to recognise these unsung heroes in Carnforth and the surrounding area, said: “During a period of great stress and worry and no little hardship for many, Carnforth proved itself not only to be a strong and caring community but also a resourceful community that is ready to meet challenges head on.

"We should be proud that the first thoughts of so many people in this town were 'how can I help others?'.

Town mayor Kath Bromilow said: “Tonight has been one of the highlights of my two years as mayor of our wonderful town.

"The countless, selfless acts of kindness undertaken by volunteers, partners, emergency services, NHS and agencies in the Carnforth community and surrounding areas throughout the pandemic have been heroic.

"Carnforth has an amazing community spirit and this continues to strengthen. The town council works tirelessly to support our local community and has done so particularly through these challenging times backed by our strong links and good relationships with the officers and councillors of Lancaster City Council for which we are immensely grateful.”