Furness Homeless Shelter

Popped down to the Furness Homeless Shelter today to drop off the money the generous people of Barrow donated via our stall last Friday...Richard, one of the workers from the shelter, was there to greet us with a cup of tea and posed for a smiling face picture as Pat (the manager of the centre) wrote us out a receipt.

Some smiles to brighten your day:

Keep sending your smiles in to us at rhillman@barrowbc.gov.uk or rrawlings@barrowbc.gov.uk

How about snapping your family's smiles around the dinner table this Christmas? Or sending us your pictures from a winter walk? If you're volunteering over the festive period, what about emailing some photos of the people you're helping out? Or even a picture of you and your friends seeing in the new year?

We can't wait to recieve your emails... :)

A smile confuses an approaching frown ~ Author Unknown

'A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.' ~ Phyllis Diller

'Everyone smiles in the same language.' ~ Author Unknown

'Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.' ~ Mother Teresa

'A smile is the universal welcome.' ~ Max Eastman

Raising money for Furness Homeless Shelter in Barrow

Spending a few hours in Barrow market today resulted in many generous Barrovians and visitors to our market giving a total of £105.50!! Thank you to all you very generous individuals, including two people who kindly gave £10 donations, and a great many polite, friendly and generous young people who had just broken up from school for Christmas.

Thankyou to each of you.

It truly is great to live in Barrow and certainly made me smile....


There are lots of things to smile about in Barrow

See Smiling listening to April Maybe May singing 'Smile'....below....

More smiles...

Watched two great local bands with friends last night: April Maybe May and Sugarfoot.

What was fantastic was April Maybe May singing 'Smile'....



And even better..was two friends smiling, listening to the band sing 'Smile'...



Smile, snap, and send it in to us...

Rebecca at: rrawlings@barrowbc.gov.uk
Rosie at: rhillman@barrowbc.gov.uk

Gathering smiles in Barrow town centre

Over the past few months, the Share a Smile team have been out and about in Barrow gathering photos for the project.
Here's photographer Steve Hillman in action on Portland Walk while Neighbourhood Warden Andy High looks on:

Here Steve grabs a couple of friends to pose for a pic before they go into Barrow market:

Please send your smiling pictures to us. Email jpegs to rhillman@barrowbc.gov.uk and we'll see who is the smiliest Barrovian!

Furness Cancer Support Group share their smiles

A LOCAL support group that works hard to put a smile back on the faces of cancer sufferers is sharing those smiles with the rest of the town.
Over the past few months, members of the public have been taking part in the Share a Smile project. Devised by Barrow police and the Borough Council, it involves Community Press photographer Steve Hillman taking snaps of 1000 smiling faces. The photos will be used on video screens and projectors to promote the positive side of life and to spread the Love Barrow message.
Sheila Batty who goes to Furness cancer support group heard about the scheme and invited photographer Steve and The Community Press to come along to one of their meetings and meet the members and take their photos for the project.
Sheila said: “I thought it would be perfect for you to take photos of our group. Here, you start off with the pain and the tears and you end up with a smile on your face.”
The group have been meeting for 22 years in various locations, but have now settled in the Lesser Kings Hall on Hartington Street.
Anne Beattie is one of the group’s leaders. She said: “Anyone with any type of cancer or those who have suffered a bereavement are more than welcome to come along.
“It’s a very informal group, people can sit and have a cup of tea and a chat and we have relaxation sessions, guest speakers and even trips away.”
Another member, who didn’t want to be named, told us the group was a real lifeline. She said: “It gets you away from cancer. We don’t talk about the illness, we do things to take our minds off it.
“There’s no doom and gloom but if there is anyone who wants to talk about cancer, there is always someone available.
“Without the group we’d go to pot. The support is wonderful, everyone rallies round if you’re ill – I would say I’ve made some real friends for life here.”
Furness cancer support group hold their drop-in meetings at the Lesser Kings Hall on Hartington Street every Wednesday from 2pm-4pm and everyone is welcome to attend.

Share a Smile - how to send us your smiles

We're looking for your biggest, brightest smiles to help us spread the Love Barrow message.
If you think you can help, please email your smiling pictures as jpegs to:
rhillman@barrowbc.gov.uk
or
rrawlings@barrowbc.gov.uk
We'd love to hear from community groups, clubs and schools, crossing patrols, traffic wardens, bus drivers... If you can share a smile, get in touch.
We will display the smirks and grins on this site and on our Flickr page and will choose the best smiles to feature in the Community Press too. The images will also be beamed onto the side of Furness House by the police's EYE projector.
The Share a Smile team can't wait to hear from you!