Dalston funeral director Jill Glencross is Cumbria Woman of the Year

A county funeral director has been chosen as Cumbria Woman of the Year 2022.

Jill Glencross Hind - based in Dalston, near Carlisle – was presented with the award at theCumbria Women of the Year lunch - held in Bowness on Windermere on Wednesday 5October.

Judges heard how Ms Glencross Hind makes a difference to people’s lives in both her professional and personal life.

At the height of the pandemic, when the number of people dying from Covid-19 started to rise, she took to social media to beg people to stay at home and follow regulations because she, along with fellow funeral directors, were being overwhelmed with the demand on their service.

Her emotional message, urging people people to change their ways, went viral, showing just how coronavirus was affecting even the strongest of people.

Judges were also impressed with how she had set up a social group for people who needed help with grief, created a memory tree at Christmas to remember lost ones and collected Easter eggs and selection boxes so children did not have to go without.

She is also a patron of the Carlisle Youth Zone, for which she raises sponsorship and support.

On a day to day basis she meets and helps people at one of the most vulnerable anddistressing times of their lives and during the pandemic she brought calmness and kindness to so many families in the area.

Her nominators described her as "remarkable", a "pillar of strength" and as compassionate, warm-hearted, unselfish and dedicated.