A COMMUNITY association which has raised more than £600,000 since 2008 to create a thriving centre was awarded Best Community Project by the judges.

Dalton Community Association beat the competition, which included Ambleside Parish Centre and SAFA Cumbria as the finalists, to receive the special accolade.

“It’s a great honour to be recognised for a lot of hard work across a 12-year period in what was once a dilapidated building and is now a thriving community centre,” said Chairman Barry Doughty.

In the heart of Kendal, an Unsung Hero was found.

Leone Edwards has worked tirelessly to build up the Sandylands Residents Association in the town into a valuable resource which is well used by local families.

She received the Unsung Hero award of the night.

“I was not expecting to get the award,” she said.

“It’s nice to be recognised but it’s also important to have events like these to see what the rest of the community are doing.

“This has certainly kept me motivated to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Mrs Edwards continues to pour in a lot of her effort into developing the centre which acts as a base to utilise surplus food from local stores for the community.

The centre also plays host for school uniform collections.

Other finalists in the line up for Unsung Hero was Peter Winston, of Ulverston, and Margaret Barrow, honorary chief of the Barrow and District Disability Association.