OUR SELFLESS volunteers received the highest possible praise last week as they were recognised and named for awards in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

Melanie Ann Walker, led Allonby’s Angels community group during the pandemic to support the most vulnerable people in the small coastal village.

Melanie and fellow volunteers went to the extent of walking the residents’ dogs and offered telephone support despite having underlying health conditions herself that could have affected her by Covid-19.

Thanks to her efforts, she was tapped for an BME in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list this year.

She says that when she heard the news, she almost fainted.

“I’ve known for about six weeks. I got an email from the Government, I was at a friends house and I was just checking my phone, I saw this and thought...what?

“I opened it and I nearly fainted.”

When asked how she feels about receiving such high praise, she said: “Obviously delighted but very overwhelmed.”

“The community support in Allonby is absolutely amazing. I’ve never really known anything like it. Even without this pandemic, everyone really looks out for each other.”

Carolyn Otley, 48, of Papcastle, near Cockermouth, will be presented with an MBE “for services to the community in Cumbria during Covid-19”.

Carolyn was chair of the county’s Community Resilience Group set up in response to the pandemic. She designed and implemented a county-wide structure linked to a network of community hubs and established a website to recruit and manage volunteers.

More than 2,300 volunteers were recruited through the website and food and medication was delivered to tens of thousands of homes across the county at minimal cost and great speed.

Four fully-staffed recovery centres were established and 300 informal groups were engaged.

Carolyn said: “It’s fantastic but equally I’m really aware that while I have been the voice and face of many things none of this could have happened without so many people setting up groups and helping their friends, neighbours and communities.”

“People want to help each other here. It’s so good all this work has been recognised and great to celebrate what Cumbria does so well.”

Carolyn is married to Simon and they have two sons, Alastair, 15, and Dan, 12. Since 2004, she has undertaken several roles with the Cumbria Council for Voluntary Service.

She has been a member of Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team for 17 years and, following the 2009 floods, was involved with the group set up in response to Storm Desmond.

The Cabinet Office issued a statement listing the many things Carolyn has done. These include supporting the preparation and delivery of a county-wide coordinated community response to the pandemic and making “an outstanding contribution to the third and community sectors in Cumbria through a lifetime of effective volunteering”.