King Charles meets Barrow’s community and voluntary sector
Members of Barrow’s voluntary and community sector met with His Majesty King Charles III to proudly showcase the valuable services they provide to the town.
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His Majesty, who visited Barrow to bestow Royal Port status on the town in honour of its 120-year history as the home of UK submarine construction, also learnt how Team Barrow is supporting the work of this vital sector.
Accompanied by Lord Case, who is the Chair of Team Barrow, His Majesty met with representatives of the organisations who earlier this year received grants totalling £650,000 from the recently launched Social Impact Fund.
Lord Case said “It was an honour and a privilege to welcome His Majesty to Barrow on what was a truly momentous day for the town and the community.
“It was especially pleasing to be able to introduce him to the wonderful people who do such important work in the town, and for His Majesty to hear how they’re making a positive difference to people’s lives.”
One of those to meet His Majesty, who was hosted by Coffee D’ash, a cafe in Barrow’s Portland Walk, was Amanda Bland, founder and director at A Stitch Different, who said “We’re very proud to share what we do here in Furness, supporting our disability community, getting them ready for employment. It was nerve wracking, but a really enjoyable experience and I’m proud to be able to share what our whole team is doing.”
Ian Burns, Chair of Self Harm Awareness for All (SAFA), said “I think it’s fantastic he came to Barrow, once-in-a-generation really, and absolutely great to see all the good work the charities do being recognised in this way. He was very engaging and really interested.”
During the visit, His Majesty also attended the commissioning ceremony for the Royal Navy’s sixth Astute class submarine, HMS Agamemnon, at BAE Systems’ shipyard. Earlier in the day, the first steel was cut on the fourth Dreadnought submarine, HMS King George VI, to mark the start of its construction.
Both were significant milestones and further underlined the importance of Team Barrow and its role in helping to enable and sustain the defence nuclear enterprise, efficiently and securely.
“It was especially pleasing to be able to introduce him to the wonderful people who do such important work in the town, and for His Majesty to hear how they’re making a positive difference to people’s lives.”
