A tribute to a tireless charity worker from the South Lakes has been paid by Kendal Town Council.
Pat Harrison MBE, co-founded the New Beginnings charity. She devoted much of her life to the cause of orphans in Ukraine following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
She was made aware of the crisis through her church group and went on to help some of the children who were brought to the UK for care in order to allow them to breathe clean air for three weeks.
Pat visited Ukraine 1995 to better understand the conditions that children in the area were living in and was so distraught by what she found that she came back to the UK to set up New Beginnings and began fundraising in 2001.
Working to make a change in a country of such depression has been no mean feat and Pat took on Kiev local officials to stand strong and declare the need for change to protect the safety and future of their local children.
She became the first foreigner to be awarded Kiev Woman of the Year, in 2000 she received an MBE and in 2003 was named Cumbria Woman of the Year.
Later the charity also developed links with an organisation in Malawi with similar aims.
Since the Russian invasion in February, Pat had been very involved with the plight of refugees and the impact of the war on children. She was given the Wainwright Award for Kendal citizens in 2022, as a mark of her contribution to the town’s civil society.
Town mayor Doug Rathbone said: “Pat gave out so much personal commitment to the cause of those in need in Ukraine and shared that with everyone she met, for so many years.
“When she was presented with the Wainwright Award earlier this year, she held the whole room in her hands with her reply in acceptance. Her commitment and personality will be a sad loss to the town.”
