23rd August 2022
Families enjoyed a fun-filled weekend of events in the heart of their community.
Bands, street acts and workshops took place in Cleator Moor town centre in August thanks to support from iSH (Industrial Solutions Hub).
Cumbria’s Eden Arts – organisers of the hugely successful Winter Droving in Penrith that sees 25,000 attendees annually, as well as being the masterminds behind the recent appearance of the WHALE in Whitehaven Harbour, brought a programme of community activity to Cleator Moor.
David Farrell, chairperson of Cleator Moor’s Chamber of Trade, said: “There was a good vibe in the centre of town. People turned out in good numbers.
“Families along with residents of a town centre care home were among those enjoying the activities. There was a good mix of the population having fun.
“It would be great to have more things like this going on in Cleator Moor and we look forward to more businesses getting involved to help make that happen.
“What iSH is planning in the town, starting at Leconfield, and the jobs it will create gives us a great opportunity in the town centre to build on this and to provide accommodation and hospitality that will be required with the increase in footfall.
“We look forward to working with iSH to maximise that opportunity for the town centre and the community.”
This weekend’s activities were arranged after iSH met with community groups in Cleator Moor who said they would like to see more events taking place in the town.
iSH, which will create 700 jobs in West Cumbria and is working in collaboration with industry, SMEs, schools, academia, charities, and communities to ensure opportunities created are open to everyone, worked in collaboration with community groups, organisations and other partners to enable this event to take place.
Steve Wilkinson, iSH project manager, said: “iSH is a community-led organisation which is looking to positively transform West Cumbria communities through employment, training and skills opportunities, starting with the development of a campus at Leconfield at Cleator Moor.
“At our monthly community engagement meetings, a range of organisations told us they would like to see more happening in Cleator Moor, especially some entertainment for children and families.
“We are delighted that by working in collaboration with the community and other partners that we have enabled those events to be kick started.
“We look forward to continuing to work with partners across the region to have a positive impact on people’s lives across West Cumbria.”
Steve also recently completed a trek up Kilimanjaro to raise money for Cleator Moor charities Home To Work and The Phoenix Youth Project as well as national charity the RNLI.
For more details about iSH visit www.ishco.co.uk