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Month: November 2025

The Hackney & Leigh team celebrating their Award

Local Estate Agent, Hackney & Leigh, does the National Treble!

Local estate agent, Hackney & Leigh, has won three national awards at the prestigious EA Masters Best Estate Agent Guide Awards in London, underscoring the agency’s market-leading performance across sales and lettings.

• Best Sales and Lettings Estate Agency in the UK (6–20 branches)

• Best Lettings Manager in the UK – Jo Thompson, Head of Lettings

• Best Sales Manager in the UK – Keira Evans, Kendal Branch Manager

“We can’t believe it – we’ve done the treble!” said Simon Leigh, Director of Hackney & Leigh, the independent ,family-run Sales and Lettings agency with branches in Ambleside, Arnside, Carnforth, Grange-over-Sands, Kendal, Keswick, Kirkby Lonsdale, Penrith, Ulverston and Windermere.

“This is a truly momentous achievement. I am incredibly proud of our fantastic team and I am delighted for Jo and Keira in particular. These awards recognise the hard work, passion and commitment they devote to delivering outstanding results for our clients.”

The awards were presented at a glittering ceremony at Evolution London in Battersea Park, attended by more than 1,000 estate agents and industry partners.

Each year, the team behind the Best Estate Agent Guide carries out an independent performance assessment of the entire estate agency industry to identify the best agencies in the country, based on marketing, service and results. The top performers are then mystery-shopped to ensure exceptional service levels are achieved and that all the latest marketing techniques are being employed to create the perfect first impression of their clients’ properties.

The process for individual awards included Jo and Keira having in-depth interviews with industry leaders to understand more about them, their values and how they go about achieving the results for their clients. On winning the Best Lettings Manager in the UK, Jo Thompson, who lives near Kendal, said: “I am honoured and elated to have won the award. It is not only a great result for me, but it recognises what a fantastic team I have that supports me.”

The judges said her in-depth industry knowledge was a key factor in their decision. Jo has been in the industry for over a decade, having previously been a manager in the hospitality world. She joined Hackney & Leigh in 2017 and has helped shape and grow the business into what it is today.

Following the presentation for Best Sales Manager in the UK, Keira Evans said: “I am delighted to have won the award, not just for myself, but for my team. Just to be nominated was incredible, but to win was a total privilege. I’m utterly flattered to be recognised for my work in a profession I’m so passionate about, especially given the quality of the competition.”

Commenting on Keira’s win, the judges said she had shown fantastic knowledge of her market, alongside a wonderful empathy for her clients. Keira has worked as an estate agent for ten years, following a successful career as a Sales Manager in the equine industry. She joined Hackney & Leigh at the start of 2022 and has taken the Kendal office from strength to strength.

Peter Knight, founder of the Best Estate Agent Guide and EA Masters, said: “We are delighted to recognise and help celebrate the outstanding achievements of everyone who took home an award at this year’s EA Masters. “They represent the top-performing agents in the UK, setting the benchmark for excellence in customer service, expertise and results. “We congratulate this year’s winners, who continue to raise standards in the industry and truly exemplify what it means to be the very best.”

Keira Evans (left) and Jo Thompson with their awards at the ceremony

Westmorland and Furness Council Logo

Westmorland & Furness Council – ‘One Tree Per Resident Project’

In response to the climate and biodiversity crises, Westmorland and Furness Council want to help our communities to plant one tree, or one metre of hedgerow equivalent, for every resident. This means planting a quarter of a million trees over a five-year period.

Trees have various benefits for climate, biodiversity and communities, such as:

  • absorbing and storing carbon
  • providing shade and shelter
  • increasing biodiversity and enhancing landscapes
  • capturing air pollution and improving air quality
  • improving water quality
  • reducing soil erosion
  • reducing flooding risk

How to get involved

There are many different ways in which you can help reach our aim of planting 250,000 trees. If would like more details or want to tell us how many trees or hedgerows you have planted so we can count them, please contact us.

Free Trees for Residents: We are giving away free tree saplings as part of the ‘One Tree Per Resident Project’.

Who Can Apply: You can apply on behalf of:

  • you – as a resident
  • schools
  • town and parish councils
  • landowners
  • community groups

Trees and Hedge Packs: You can apply for multiple saplings. Larger planting schemes will be assessed for feasibility. Tree species and numbers are subject to availability.

Tree species: There are 10 species of tree in the scheme.

  • Crab Apple – Small gardens, pot-friendly, moist, heavier soil, pollinators and birds.
  • Field Maple – Medium to large gardens, moderately moist, wildlife and autumn colour.
  • Guelder Rose – Small gardens, pot friendly, moist, fertile soil, berries for birds (otherwise toxic)
  • Hawthorn – Small to large gardens, moist to dry soil, wildlife.
  • Hazel – Small gardens, pot-friendly, moist soil, not waterlogged, wildlife and nuts.
  • Juniper – Small gardens, pot-friendly. Dry, well-drained soil. Wildlife, berries for birds (otherwise toxic)
  • Rowan – Small gardens, pot-friendly. Light, moist soil. Berries for birds (otherwise toxic)
  • Silver Birch – Medium to large gardens. Moist, well-drained soil. Wildlife, light canopy.
  • Whitebeam – Medium to large gardens. Dry to moist soil. Birds.
  • Yew – Small gardens, pot-friendly. Dry to moist soil. Evergreen, berries (all parts of the tree are toxic)

Pick the trees suitable for your planting area. Some are suitable for pots if managed. Read advice on how to pick the right trees to plant, and how to plant them on the Woodland Trust website

How to Apply: Before you apply, you’ll need to know: Your chosen tree species and the What3Words location of your planting site.

Applications will be open until 30 November 2025, but may clsoe early subject to demand. Please note hedge packs are not currently available due to high demand.

Apply online by clicking here.

If you need an accessible version, please contact us by email, or visit one of our offices or libraries.

Contact us: We’re keen to hear from you if you:

  • are interested in linking as a partner
  • would like to get involved, or have any suggestions about how to get involved
  • want to record your tree planting under the ‘One Tree per Resident Project’.
  • have any questions about the scheme

Please get in touch by email: futuretrees@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk.

Partners: Our current partners include:

  • Forestry Commission
  • Lake District National Park
  • RAISE Community Forest
  • Ullswater Catchment Management CIC
  • Woodland Trust
  • Yorkshire Dales National Park

Progress: To date, we have planted 41,544 trees which is 17% of the total needed to achieve the goal of ‘One Tree per Resident’. This planting has been delivered by council teams, supported by the Community Orchard and Micro Woodland initiatives funded through the Coronation Living Heritage Fund.

Our key partner, Raise: Cumbria Community Forest, has also played a vital role in delivering additional planting schemes..

Hollybank Care Home '12 Days of Christmas Raffle'

Hollybank Care Home ’12 Days of Christmas Raffle’

Hollybank Care Home is running their ’12 Days of Christmas Raffle’ again this year.

The prizes are: hampers, gift boxes, bottles galore and even a distillery tour and tasting voucher.

An opportunity to win Christmas tipples and chocolate goodies in time for the festive season and help raise additional funds to give our lovely residents an extra special Christmas.

Tickets are £1 each or £5 a strip.

Thermal Imaging 2025-2026

Free Thermal Imaging For Arnside Residents

Sustainable Arnside is once again offering this FREE service to people interested in understanding the areas of their home that could potentially be insulated better and, in the long run, save money – which is most likely, all of us!

Thermal imaging can identify cold spots in your home, such as draughts around windows and doors, missing and defective insulation, water ingress, damp, and cold bridges. It can indicate both quick fixes as well as areas that require professional advice, giving the opportunity to make your home warmer, healthier, cheaper to heat and lower your home’s carbon footprint.

The thermal imaging camera detects the heat emitted by objects and shows it in a colour-coded way – the colder areas are shown in blue and the warmer ones in red.

Anyone is eligible for the home survey. All surveys are carried out by local volunteers in collaboration with Futureproof Cumbria.

The window for conducting thermal imaging is November – as the weather turns colder, through to the end of March – before the weather warms up.

To register your interest or for further information, contact: thermalarnside@gmail.com

To visit the Futureproof Cumbria website, click here.

Temporary Road Closure - Church Hill

Temporary Road Closure: Church Hill, Arnside – 15/11/25

A temporary road closure has been put in place to allow Fibrus to carry out utility works which are expected to commence 15th November 2025 and anticipated to take 2 days to complete.

Please see below details of the extents of the restriction(s) and any alternative route(s) which may be in place, the relevant legal notice can be viewed here and a location plan clearly showing these extents can be found here.

Location: Church Hill, from its junction with Silverdale Road, extending in a north easterly direction for approx.105 metres.

Alternative Route: There is no suitable alternative route available for vehicles.  A way for pedestrians and dismounted cyclists will be maintained at all times.

N.B Passage for Emergency Vehicles will be maintained where required for the duration of this restriction.

Should you have any queries in relation to this temporary Order please contact the Highways Hotline by calling 0300 373 3306 or via the Westmorland & Furness Council website, quoting the reference TTROW/16845