A school and a village hall in West Cumbria are celebrating after receiving an award for their efforts during lockdown.

St Joseph Catholic High School in Workington and Greysouthen Village Hall committee both received a Special Recognition Award from the High Sheriff of Cumbria.

The school provided meals to children and vulnerable people in the community, while the village hall set up a successful food hub providing residents with an ordering, delivery and takeaway service.

Jacky Kennedy, headteacher at St Joseph's, said: "We are very proud of what we have achieved. Over 2,000 food packs have been put together since we closed for lockdown, 25 per cent have been delivered by our staff around Workington and beyond and we have really enjoyed seeing our families each week and knowing that they are doing well.

"We have also given out over 300 workpacks to families without easy access to online work and we have made over 15,000 email contacts with our students. Every week during lockdown we have phoned home to offer support and have counted over 10,000 phone calls made by staff.

"Our social media posts number already over 600. We do this because we feel our children and families are so important to us. All the staff have been back at school for the last few weeks and we are working hard to make sure our students are safe and well."

Jenny McCulloch, chairman of Greysouthen Village Hall committee, said: "Thanks to the commitment of a team of volunteers, over 60 households – that’s more than a third of our community – were supported with food parcels.

"We were able to get the first mail shot about the food hub out to all residents within a week of lockdown, offering vital support."

The chairman of Nepgill Residents’ association, Anne Woodcock, said: "Without help from Greysouthen Village Hall we would have been in deep trouble and would not have been able to cope in the way we have without this additional support."

The committee is grateful for the financial support from Cumbria Community Fund and the efforts of committee member Ben Davies-McChesney, whose toddler daughter shaved her dad’s head to raise funds, enabled the project to start up quickly.

Howard McCulloch, who is in Greysouthen Senior Social Group, said: "We very quickly had a lot of volunteers offering help in a variety of ways, more than 90 in the end, even though some were themselves isolating.

The project is continuing for a few more weeks. Hall secretary Jane Inman said: "Back by popular demand is the takeaway service. We are very grateful to a local resident, chef Alec who has prepared some nutritious home cooked meals."