The winners have been named in the Local Business Charity Awards for Cumbria.

The event, sponsored by insurance broker Jelf, was held at Annie Mawson’s Sunbeams Music Trust and hosted by BBC Radio Cumbria presenter Ben Maeder.

The winner of the Jelf Award, open to nominations from charities with an annual income of over £200,000 a year, was The Cumberland.

The building society was nominated by Eden Valley Hospice for work including fundraising and taking part in ‘colour runs’ to providing in-house training to hospice retail volunteers and helping with their Home Money Box scheme.

Eden Valley will now receive a £1,000 donation.

The Cumbrian Award, open to nominations from charities with an annual income of under £200,000 a year was won by Reach Out Support Ltd.

Reach Out Support was nominated by Triple A Project in recognition of their help in launching and running ‘Positive Pals’, a social group for people with Autism in Carlisle. Triple A Project will also receive a donation of £1,000.

The Individual Award which recognised the efforts of people from local businesses for their support of a local charity, was won by Joanne Brown from LLWR Ltd, nominated by Hospice at Home West Cumbria.

Joanne lost her husband to cancer in 2017 but has worked to support Hospice at Home West Cumbria ever since.

She launched the ‘Be Your Own Hero’ and ‘Bags of Sunshine’ campaigns and has raised £20,000 for the charity. Joanne won a weekend away worth £300 and was presented with her very own ‘Bag of Sunshine’ as a gift from award organisers.

Mark Daley, regional director of sponsor Jelf, said: "I am sure I speak for my fellow judges when I say that tonight we were proud to be Cumbrian.

"Our thanks to Annie and the Sunbeams Music Troupe for their outstanding performance and to all who attended the awards.

"It was an absolute privilege reading the nominations for the Local Business Charity Awards .

"We were reminded that not only are there some pressing issues still in Cumbria, but also that there are some very special people and companies, working hard behind the scenes to make life better for others.

"We salute you for your efforts, for your altruism and for the example you set for us all; we are lucky to have you living in our county and we thank you for your contribution to the wider Cumbrian society."