Sellafield Ltd employees have chosen Mind West Cumbria as the company’s charity of the year for 2019.

Workers at the nuclear site voted for the mental health charity in a recent poll, which would decide where their fundraising efforts will be directed for this year.

Fundraising activities will start with the auction of artwork produced for the Art of Reprocessing exhibition at the Beacon Museum, Whitehaven on Friday 15 March.

Local, regional, national and international artists were commissioned to produce artwork inspired by the life of Sellafield’s Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (Thorp). The plant sheared its last batch of used nuclear fuel in November last year and the artwork has been on display in the museum ever since.

Head of Community Relations, Gary McKeating, said:

Mind West Cumbria provides a life changing service to people in our area who need practical help and someone to listen.

Our employees at Sellafield raised over £22,000 for the Great North Air Ambulance in 2018 so I am excited to see how much we can raise for Mind.

Almost 6,000 people have been to see the Art of Reprocessing exhibition so we know that there is a real interest in the artwork. There are so many different pieces in different styles that there really is something for everyone, and what better way to mark the end of the exhibition than by raising money for such a great charity.

Dr Brian Campbell from Mind West Cumbria said:

We are delighted to have been chosen, especially because it is the people who work on the site who voted for us.

Every year we help hundreds of people here in West Cumbria, from Silloth and Wigton right down to Seascale and Gosforth, and everywhere in between.

We provide counselling and work with families and for many people suffering mental illness we are the first port of call.

They’re all different, and they all have their own stories. Mental illness does not discriminate and can affect anyone at any time. We rely completely on fundraising and volunteers and the money raised by Sellafield Ltd employees will make a huge difference to us.

The Art of Reprocessing exhibition is still open to the public – it closes the day of the sale on March 15th – so there is still time to go along and see the artwork before it is auctioned.

The evening will start at 1800 and will see 18 pieces auctioned. Tickets for the auction are free and available via Eventbrite. For more information and to view the artwork, visit the Beacon Museum website

Nineteen local authorities facing impacts from a local air, land or sea port will receive a share of £3.14 million to help them prepare for Brexit, the Communities Secretary confirmed today (20 February 2019).

Nineteen district and unitary councils across England will receive £136,362 to the end of April for each major port of entry into the UK in their area.

This will allow them to increase their resources to work through the immediate impacts from Brexit in their local areas such as ensuring their port’s resilience and potential impacts of greater traffic to surrounding communities.

The allocations have been based on a number of factors including the amount of EU goods each port area receives into the country and its wider importance to the UK’s global trade network.

The funding is part of the £56.5 million announced by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government last month to help councils adapt to the changes caused by Brexit, ensuring their local authority is prepared ahead of 29 March, whilst also protecting vital local services.

An additional £1.64 million has been added from departmental underspends to bring the total funding available to local authorities with a port of entry to £3.14 million.

The Communities Secretary, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, said:

Local authorities have a critical role to play in making a success of Brexit.

I am acutely aware a greater burden could be placed on the areas surrounding our ports. I have announced how we are allocating £3.14 million to those areas considered to be under the greatest pressure from Brexit.

I will continue to take the situation under review, working closely with local leaders to ensure they are prepared to respond to Brexit.

The local authorities which will receive funding are:

Dover, Folkestone and Hythe, Thanet, East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull, North East Lincolnshire, Portsmouth, Southampton, Ashford, Gravesham, Dartford, Camden, Manchester City Council, North West Leicestershire, Uttlesford, Hillingdon, Crawley, Tendring and Suffolk Coastal.

Ports of entry within these local authorities are:

Port of Dover, Eurotunnel, Ramsgate, Goole, Hull, Grimsby, Immingham (DBP, DfDS and C. Ro), Portsmouth, Southampton General, Southampton Container, Ashford, Ebbsfleet, St Pancras, Manchester Airport, East Midlands Airport, Stansted Airport, Heathrow Airport, Gatwick Airport, Harwich, Felixstowe.

The Treasury announced in December that MHCLG would receive £35 million to prepare for Brexit. MHCLG has added the extra £21.5 million funding using finance from its 2018 to 2019 budget.

Councils will receive £20 million this financial year (2018 to 2019) and next (2019 to 2020) to spend on planning and strengthening resources.

As a share of this £40 million, all unitary councils will receive £210,000 and combined authorities will receive £182,000. County councils will receive £175,000 each and all district councils will receive £35,000.

A further £5 million will be split by teams in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, local authorities, and Local Resilience Forums for specific purposes such as strengthening preparations and building community cohesion.

A further £10 million will be available in the next financial year (2019 to 2020). This funding is intended to help local authorities with specific costs which may arise following Brexit.

The EU Exit Local Government Delivery Board, chaired by the Communities Secretary, has been set-up so council leaders can talk to Ministers about domestic Brexit preparations. The Board has met 4 times including on 24 January 2019 and is now meeting monthly.

The government is in regular contact with councils about Brexit preparedness and is working closely with organisations like the Local Government Association to share information.

This funding will not be the only resource councils receive from central government to fund Brexit costs. The government has been clear that departments will assess and, if appropriate, fund any potential new requirements of councils as part of EU Exit work they are undertaking.

£3.14 million will be allocated to help 19 local authorities with a major port prepare for Brexit.

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