Published at 11:09, Thursday, 28 June 2012

THIS flaming June weather might be dismal but Whitehaven continues to bask in the warmth of goodwill shown over the past week.

The Olympic torch relay saw thousands of people gather with great humour to watch the procession make its way through the town.

As families, wrestling with prams, toddlers and brollies, cheered on the runners, the BBC and Olympic organisers praised Whitehaven’s fantastic turnout.

The pictures in our paper today bear witness to the support shown by the community for the runners who had earned the right to be part of the world-famous relay.

Indeed, so touched was the mother of one runner, James Simpson, she has written us a letter expressing her gratitude.

In it she states: “James has severe learning disability and is not from Whitehaven and we did not know the town well...

“I would just like to say a HUGE thank you to all the people of Whitehaven for the warm welcome you gave my son.

“I felt I had to write to the people of Whitehaven and say this thank you, you are truly wonderful people and we are going to visit again as your town is lovely.’’

While it was very kind of her to say so, it shouldn’t really come as any surprise. Our community has shown many times that it is good and decent, hard-working and supportive. We should be rightly proud of this.

In one of the weekend national papers, there was a piece written by a London-based journalist who was rather patronising about the relay through West Cumbria.

Apparently, there isn’t much doing up here, he commented, so we become rather excited by events such as the torch relay.

Perhaps living in London, you do become blasé about events which bring communities together, instil great excitement in children, provide an opportunity to welcome visitors warmly and cheer on remarkable runners with life-inspiring stories.

Up here in the “sticks’’ we tend to view these things as important. But maybe that’s just our crazy Northern way.

Another Copeland success story this week emerged from wreckage at Tamalder Childcare in Whitehaven.

Only nine months after having its premises devastated by a freak tornado – which left it with no home and few resources – the staff and parents from the nursery wouldn’t be beaten.

The resolute bunch re-grouped, pulled together and, with help from the county council, moved into temporary accommodation less than two weeks after the storm.

And the hard work and dedication paid off when government inspectors found that the nursery continues to provide a caring, nurturing environment in which the children are thriving.

Rosehill Theatre has also taken another step forward in its ambitious plans to create a modern arts facility fit for the whole community.

The news of a £1 million grant, in addition to the £2million earmarked from the Arts Council, puts the theatre well on its way to its target figure that will pay for the major revamp.

How many towns of Whitehaven’s size have their own theatre? And not only that, one which isn’t happy to rest on its laurels but instead is working tirelessly to improve for the benefit of the community of theatre-goers, music lovers and film fans that live on its doorstep?

We wish Rosehill well and look forward to being able to report its grand re-opening in just over two years’ time.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk