Blue Monday has rolled around again, but we’ve decided not to dwell on it this year.
Instead, we’re launching Cumbria Crack’s Happy Hour – a regular round up of purely feel-good positive news stories to remind you that good things do happen right on our doorstep.
We know it’s easy to get lost in hard news and miss out on the good things, but to us, good news is just as important and worth shouting about.
It also helps paint a fuller picture of Cumbria and some of the brilliant people living here who are helping to make the county a brighter place.
We’ve rounded up 10 good news stories from the first two weeks of 2024 to help divert your attention away from all the Blue Monday chatter.
From new year’s day babies to a man embarking on a year of challenges for mental health charities and revamp plans for Cumbrian places – here are some pick-me-up stories in no particular order.
Think Happy Hour sounds like a good idea? Let us know how often you’d like to see a good news round up by emailing us [email protected]
1. West Cumbrian man embarks on year of challenges for mental health charities
Laurie Crayston, 33, of Frizington, is planning on tackling 24 challenges for Carlisle Eden Mind, Samaritans West Cumbria and Mind Over Mountains in the coming year.
Having set several endurance records over the last few years – including the fastest climb of all England’s mountains in 2023 – Laurie has now set his sights on tackling multiple smaller challenges over a year, inspired in part by fellow West Cumbrian Gary McKee’s 365 marathons.
Laurie’s first challenge will be an attempt at completing the 67km Lantau Trail in Hong Kong, solo and unsupported. He will have to carry all his food and water from start to finish and will climb almost half the height of Everest along the way.
2. Youngsters spearhead ambitious plans to improve Cumbria’s water
Ambitious plans to improve the environment in rivers, lakes and sea around Cumbria will be spearheaded by young people, thanks to a new scheme.
Cumbria Development Education Centre was among 22 charities to successfully bid for funding from the Blue Influencers Scheme, and is being awarded £20,000 a year for three years.
The grant will help pay for the employment of a Blue Mentor, whose role is to recruit young people to become Blue Influencers.
These young people, aged 10 to 14, with the support of their Blue Mentor, will create and run social action schemes to improve the environment of their schools, neighbourhoods and communities.
The Blue Influencers Scheme is a ground-breaking project from UK outdoor education charity The Ernest Cook Trust, with the ambition to support young people from underserved communities and those living in deprived coastal, estuary and riverside locations, by empowering them to tackle environmental and climate issues.
3. New large art installation for charity at Lowther Castle revealed
A new large scale artwork will be installed at Lowther Castle this spring.
Following on from the runaway success of Ten Thousand Daffodils last year, Lowther Castle and Gardens Trust will host OR in the venue’s grounds.
OR has been put together by County Durham-based artist Steve Messam.
The event will benefit three charities – James’ Place, Restore and the Lowther Church Restoration Fund.
4. Nine-year-old completes year-long run challenge
A Cumbrian nine-year-old has completed a mammoth challenge to run every day for a year for the Woodland Trust.
Wesley van Schelven, a pupils at Lorton School has headed out in all weathers and enjoyed warm sunrises, braved horizontal rain and wind, and slid on frosty ice and snow.
His determination and motivation has seen him run over 550km and climbed over 10,000 metres.
5. Lake District fell top assessor celebrates climbing Helvellyn 751 times
One of the Fell Top Assessors has celebrated his 751st ascent of Helvellyn.
Jon Bennett, 61, from Ambleside, is hanging up his boots for the national park after providing vital ground condition reports for walkers for 16 years.
6. £463,000 boost for West Cumbrian projects from Sellafield Ltd
Community and environmental restoration projects in West Cumbria will receive over £460,000 of new funding thanks to a Sellafield Ltd programme.
Improvement projects will go ahead at at Longlands Lake near Cleator Moor and new projects at Dub Beck, near Keekle, and Mirehouse Ponds in Whitehaven.
Dub Beck will benefit from vital restoration work to improve habitats and water quality, and Mirehouse Ponds will see improvements to its public access and new seating and forest school area.
Longlands Lake will also benefit from a community engagement and environmental restoration project.
The project will also be working with schools to create new education nature parks in the school grounds to boost nature in education.
7. Lake District cinema to host Chinese film festival for second year running
The UK’s first female-organised Chinese film festival is set to be held in a Lake District cinema for a second year running.
Keswick Alhambra Cinema will host Mint Chinese Film Festival on Thursday February 1 to Sunday February 4 this year, after over 1,000 people attended last year’s successful festival.
The event is run by the cinema’s co-owner Carol Rennie and London-based film curator Yixiang Shirley Lin and aims to celebrate cross-cultural communication and female representation in Chinese cinema while also helping boost the local economy.
8. Seal pup rescued and released by vets and volunteers
A seal pup – found on a West Cumbrian beach – was released back into the wild.
The pup was spotted at the beach near Mawbray over the new year weekend and was being monitored by wildlife rescue charity Ani-Mel Haven.
The little common seal pup was starting to head towards the road and there were concerns for its safety, so Ani-Mel took it to Millcroft Vets.
9. Cumberland FA’s Ability Counts League reveals new three-year sponsorship deal
The Cumberland FA has announced that Komatsu Forest Ltd will sponsor its successful Ability Counts League from 2024 to 2027.
The three-year partnership will see the league be renamed with the Komatsu brand included, with the financial support received as a result expected to aid the league’s growth and sustainability.Formed in 2011, the Cumberland Ability Counts League offers regular playing opportunities to disabled players aged six and over.
Fixtures are held once a month between March and October, with teams from across Cumberland taking part at a central venue.
The league has almost doubled in participation over the last two years and has over 230 registered players currently taking part within seven divisions.
10. New year baby for Cumbrian midwife
Big Ben’s bells chimed to welcome in 2024 and not long after, midwife Alex Sowerby gave birth to a baby girl.
Fern Amber was born at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle to parents Alex and Carl at 1.22am weighing 6lb 13oz. She was six weeks premature.
