ONE selfless Cumbrian is set to be rewarded for their efforts when it comes to helping their neighbours.

There are three nominees in the ‘neighbour of the year’ category at the Pride of Cumbria awards.

The awards are the county’s biggest ever event celebrating community heroes from all walks of life.

Elaine Dickinson, of Seascale, West Cumbria, is one of those who has been nominated for going the extra mile for a neighbour.

She helps out an elderly woman who lives over the road and whose daughter lives in America.

“I go in the morning, make sure she’s up, moving about,” said Mrs Dickinson, 75.

“She still goes to the local gym.

"I take her to the gym, pick her up.”

Mrs Dickinson keeps her neighbour company and often has her over for coffee.

But she does not view it as a chore.

“She’s a friend,” she said.

“We have a good laugh together, she’s a really nice lady.

“I love it. Sometimes her daughter comes over here and takes her off to Windermere - and when she’s there, I miss her.

“It’s not a burden to me.

“The daughter’s very grateful, she’s very kind.

“And I know that she does appreciate that I do look out for her mother.”

Mrs Dickinson, who still does some part-time work at a nursery, described feeling 'a bit emotional' when she heard she was up for an award for her neighbourly compassion.

"I do feel a bit embarrassed about it all," she said.

"It's very nice, very kind."

Another nominee in the category is Myles Ripley, of Sedbergh.

Mr Ripley was instrumental in setting up a Covid-support group in the east Cumbrian town at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Hundreds of volunteers were recruited to perform tasks for the vulnerable, such as picking up shopping and prescriptions.

He is a volunteer driver for both the Westmorland Dales Bus service and a car scheme sponsored by Cumbria County Council.

He described his reaction to finding out he had been nominated for a Pride of Cumbria award.

"It was great," he said.

"It was completely out of the blue.

"I had no idea.

"It was really nice of somebody or some group of people."

However, he stressed he was just the 'tip of the iceberg' when it came to offering neighbourly help.

Mr Ripley, 64, who works part-time at Sedbergh School, said any victory at the awards would be representative of all the people who he worked alongside in offering help to Sedbergh residents.

Fellow Sedbergh resident Georgina Devine paid tribute to the work Mr Ripley did in the community.

She said: "He does lots of things for this area.

"He helps lots of people.

"He works really hard.

"When it was the Covid-19 pandemic, he helped lots of people with their shopping.

"When people couldn't get out, he picked up prescriptions."

The third nominee for neighbour of the year is Jamie Postler, of Walney, Barrow, south Cumbria.

The 25-year-old spoke about why he thought he had been nominated.

He said: "I think I have been nominated because I have really lovely and kind friends.

"They would do anything for me, so I saw it as my privilege to do the same for them, especially throughout the awful time we have all had.

"I knew I had to try and help out where I could and make sure my friends, my family, my neighbours were all okay and had everything they needed."

He said it meant 'the world' to him to be nominated.

"It's just nice to know what I was doing was seen by other people and the ones closest to me as important - I wanted to make a difference," he said.

"As much as I shy away from the spotlight a lot, I'm just happy to be nominated for such a good and worthy thing."

To find out the winner of this category and all the other Pride of Cumbria award winners, make sure you tune in to our virtual event on July 29 at 7pm by visiting https://event.sparq.me.uk/prideofcumbria/.