Barrow Town Council

30/10/2026

It was a great honour for the Mayor of Barrow, councillor Kay Hyland to warmly welcome His Eminence, Senor Hernandez, Mexico's Deputy Head of Mission Ambassador, to the Town Hall today. These series of events were organised by Barrowfull to celebrate Mexico's 'Day of the Dead' or 'All Souls Day'. This event is a 4000-year-old tradition where family and friends gather to pay respects and remember friends and family members who have died. The celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember amusing events and anecdotes about the departed. Some may remember seeing such an event take place in 007's 2015 Spectre movie. Many events and workshops such as a story & book-making session, Mexican Headdress making and Salsa Dance Workshops took place. There are further activities taking place over the weekend. On Saturday there are more drop-in workshops (see Barrowfull for full detail) and on Sunday there will be music and dancing in the Town Hall courtyard from 1330hrs.

Thanks to Barrowfull, Westmorland and Furness Council, Barrow Town Council, Arts Council England, Go All In and the Mexican Embassy to the UK for supporting this wonderful event.

27/10/2026

The King's Trust held their latest award ceremony at The Bridge last week. Twenty local young people successfully completed a three-week course to improve their employment opportunities. The Mayor was greatly impressed at the speed at which the young people had progressed in such a short time. They had experienced interview techniques, public speaking and been given a week's work experience and the difference was clear to see. They each took turn to speak in front of an audience and were given their end of course certificates. The Mayor found it quite emotional to see everyone in the group achieve success and wished them all the best for the future. Thanks are due to the Kings Trust, BAE systems and the local job centre for giving these youngsters their opportunity to shine.

26/10/2026

Despite the constant rain on Saturday, Barrow's annual Autumn Fest was a great success. Hundreds of free pumpkins were collected and decorated by children of all ages. Due to the rain, many stalls were located inside 'The Bridge'. This year's Mayor's charity, CRY Cardiac Risk in the Young, was one of those stalls. It raised awareness of the issue and raised funds towards its next screening session for young adults aged between 16 and 35. Please see www.c-r-y.org/wilson-shepherd/ for further information and donations to the Mayor's charity. Many thanks to BAE for the use of 'The Bridge' and to Barrow Bid who organised this most enjoyable event.

26/10/2026

Barrow Town Council Mayor Hyland was very proud to be invited to the Furness Academy annual awards evening on 22nd October to celebrate the tremendous achievements of its pupils. A welcome was given by Head Boy, Charlie Dolan. Awards ranged from science, languages, health and social care, photography and music. Major leavers awards went to Max Charlton, Neaveh Cooke, Riley Scott, Oliver Wadsworth, Harrison Mitchell, Isabel Waters, Harry Wright, Lucie Boldison, Kai Marwood, Phoebe Case, Lydia Addenbrook and Amelie Palmer. Adagio by Tomaso Albinoni was played by Theo Johnson in the interlude. Headteacher, Mrs Robinson introduced guest speaker Christine Cort OBE to the event. A vote of thanks was given by Head Girl, Ruby Dale.

26/10/2026

he annual Judges Day ceremony was held at Carlisle Cathedral last Thursday and was hosted by the High Sheriff of Cumbria, Shirley Fawcett. All Mayors of Cumbria, including Barrow's Mayor, Councillor Hyland and her consort Kevin Hyland were in attendance.

At his Coronation, His Majesty The King made a promise to God to serve his people and ensure that justice was delivered in the Kingdom. Each year, the people who deliver this justice attend a Cathedral service to recognise, as the King did, that God is the ultimate authority and is a merciful judge. The contribution of charities and the voluntary sector is also celebrated in this service.

26/10/2026

The 21st October was the annual celebration of Trafalgar Day and Nelson's victory over the French and Spanish in 1805. Locally, the event was commemorated and hosted by the Royal Navy and the Sea Cadets. They kindly invited the Mayor, Councillor Kay Hyland and her consort to join them in their celebrations at the Town Hall. The Ensign was flown from the Mayor's balcony in honour of the event and of the Royal Navy's commitment and contribution to our town. The Sea Cadets Trafalgar day event raised a magnificent £1000 for the local unit.

26/10/2026

Last week was an exceptionally busy one for the Mayor of Barrow. It all began on Monday with the Skills Fair at the Town Hall. This year, more stalls than ever were there representing careers from engineering, health care, local government, the armed forces, further education and many, many more. Not only local school children but adults looking for a change of career benefited from discovering more about all the options available to them. It was a very successful event and greatly attended.

02/10/2026

01/10/2026

An inclusive mass walk and wheel event was held today to mark the official launch of the new active travel route along Abbey Road, Barrow. It brought together residents, families, school children and local community groups to experience and celebrate investment in a safer and accessible way to get around town. The event was attended by Olympic Gold medal cyclist Chris Boardman who waved off the Mayor of Barrow, walkers and cyclists on their way. The celebration walk and wheel showcased the new infrastructure, promoted active travel, and demonstrated the growing support for safe and sustainable transport within our community.

01/10/2026

The Furness branch of U3A has celebrated it 20th Anniversary of learning, living and laughing. They held their celebration at the coronation Hall in Ulverston and kindly invited the Mayor of Barrow Town Council, Kay Hyland to speak at the event.
U3A is a local organisation that helps people in their 'third age', retired or no longer in full employment to get the best out of their free time, meeting others with similar interests so they can continue to learn, live and laugh.
They offer 51 interest groups ranging from bird watching, photography, whist, croquet, poetry, country dancing, pickleball and many, many more.
During the celebration the group were able to show case a wonderful variety of groups with displays and performances of the Uke Troup, country dancing and a French language group.

Pictured are Tim Evans of U3A, Christine Howard, deputy Mayor of Ulverston, Kay Hyland, Mayor of Barrow and Richard Lewis, Chair of U3A