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Also in this week's edition:
Our Easter Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme has been launched. The programme provides fully funded activities and nourishing meals for eligible young people during the school holidays.
The Holiday Activity and Food programme is funded by the Department for Education and has been running since 2021. The scheme provides a wide range of activities during the school holidays and young people attending receive a warm nutritious meal each day they attend.
Deputy Leader (Non-Statutory) of Cumberland Council and Executive Member for Children, Family Wellbeing and Housing, Cllr Emma Williamson, said:
“We would like to thank all our community partners and organisations for once again supporting the Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme this Easter. This initiative helps to reduce inequalities and hunger for our young people and gives them brilliant opportunities to try new things.”
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Cumberland Trading Standards Service are continuing with their new year crackdown on the sale of illegal vapes in Cumberland.
Since 1 January 2024, the team have successfully removed almost 2000 illegal single-use disposable vapes from five businesses across the county.
Their work has successfully prevented illegal and oversized vape products from being marketed and sold to Cumberland residents.
Officers visited the premises to assess whether the disposable vapes offered for sale were compliant with the strict requirements of the Tobacco and Related Product Regulations 2016. Failure to comply with these regulations can result in heavy fines.
Checks were carried out across January and February in the Whitehaven and Carlisle areas with the team finding illegal oversize vapes.
Officers were disappointed to find a number of the premises visited were selling vapes which were five times the legal capacity limit.
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Over 93% of parents and carers have been offered their first-choice secondary school in the Cumberland Council area for children starting secondary school this September.
Nearly all pupils were offered a school of their choice with over 99% of families securing an offer at their first, second or third preference school.
Of 2836 applicants across Cumberland, 2651 were offered a place at their first preference school.
Cumbria Fostering is inviting members of the LGBT community to consider whether they could change the life of vulnerable children during LGBTQ+ Adoption & Fostering Week, which returns next week.
The annual awareness week, which runs from March 4 to 10, is organised by charity New Family Social, the UK’s peer-support charity for LGBTQ+ adopters, foster carers and special guardians. Cumbrian Fostering is one of 120 fostering and adoption agencies nationwide, which is supporting the campaign by urging members of the LGBTQ community to find out more about fostering at our upcoming events.
Wherever you are on your fostering journey, our events next week offer those thinking about fostering the opportunity to speak to our friendly team and foster carers. No need to book, just come along to an upcoming event:
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Monday 4 March – visit our information stand at Kendal Library from 12pm to 2pm
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Friday 8 March – come along to our drop in at Costa Coffee in Whitehaven’s Market Square from 12pm to 2pm
One in four adopted Cumbrian children placed with LGBT families, new figures reveal
One in four Cumbrian children placed for adoption in the last 3 years were adopted by LGBTQ+ families, new figures reveal.
Cumbria Adoption, the county’s adoption agency working for Cumberland Council and Westmorland & Furness Council, released the figures to celebrate national LGBTQ+ Adoption and Fostering Week, which runs from tomorrow, March 4.
Some 93 children in Cumbria were matched with a new loving family between 2020-23. Of these, 23 were placed with 18 LGBTQ+ families. This included five families where a child was adopted together with their brother or sister.
The one in four figure marks a doubling in numbers since 2018, when only 1 in 8 Cumbrian adoptions were with LGBTQ+ couples or single LGBTQ+ adopters. National figures, which exclude single LGBTQ+ adopters, show that 1 in 5 of the 3,000 adoptions in England in 2022-23 were to same-sex couples.
Registering to vote
You have to be on the electoral register to vote. It is particularly important you ensure you are registered if you have:
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Recently moved house within, or to, the Cumberland area.
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Recently turned 18
Postal and proxy voting
Voter ID
In the UK you are legally required to show photo identification (ID) when voting at a polling station at this election.
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We have a number of consultations underway at the moment and we encourage everyone to have their say.
Help us to improve our waste collections services.
We're also asking about your experiences of our children and family wellbeing services. If you want to hear more about these services and our ambitions to make them better, then listen to our podcast on the topic.
We're also asking for views on our adult social care services amongst other consultations.
Works on Peter Lane and Dalston Road, Carlisle
Work on Peter Lane in Carlisle has become more complicated than could have been envisaged. As a result, we are changing how we carry out the work.
To do the work safely we will need to keep the road closed longer than we planned. As a result, the closure of Dalston Road which was scheduled to commence on Monday 4 March, has been postponed until further notice.
Rest assured, our team is working diligently to reopen Peter Lane as soon as we are able. Once we have a clearer understanding of the timeline, we will provide a further update on when Peter Lane will reopen and when Dalston Road will be closed.
Cumberland Council sincerely appreciate your continued patience and understanding during this time. Your support is invaluable as we enhance the road network for the benefit of our community.
Resurfacing works on A689 Hallbankgate
We are carrying out scheduled evening highway improvement works on the A689 Hallbankgate, between Plane Head Cottage and Hallbankgate Quarry.
The resurfacing work comprises of a carriageway inlay which will improve the road's durability and quality, replace ironwork for future maintenance accessibility, and renew line markings.
These works are scheduled to commence on Monday 4 March until Friday 15 March 2024, for a duration of ten nights, weather permitting (excluding weekends). Works will be taking place between 6pm and 6am.
Following the success of the Carlisle Light District event held in February, preparations are now underway for a new event at St Bees Priory on the evenings of Thursday 14 and Friday 15 March.
Tickets for Space: God, The Universe and Everything - a spectacular sound and light show - are now on sale.
Tickets are £4 and are available to buy online at discovercarlisle.co.uk
Tickets are also available to buy in person, at Carlisle's Tourist Information Centre, The Beacon Museum, Whitehaven and St Bees post office.
We are looking for local contractors of all sizes to register on our new Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) to provide Adaptations, Repairs, Maintenance and Improvements to properties. There is no cost to join the DPS to allow you to submit quotes and be awarded work in individual properties for Cumberland Council. Assistance is available to meet onboarding criteria.
- Heating Engineers - Accessible Bathroom Fitters - Cleaners Electricians - Roofers - Builders - Glazers
- Thursday 21 March 2024, 9am - 12 noon
- Civic Centre, Carlisle CA3 8QG
To register for your place email homelife@cumberland.gov.uk by Friday 8 March 2024
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