Awards and achievements

Socitm's Better connected 2012 3 star

Socitm's Better connected 2012 3 star was awarded for this website in March 2012.

The purpose of Better connected is to identify good practice in the development of local authority websites based on extensive evidence-based research.

LGC Awards 2012 - Finalist

We were shortlisted for the LGC Awards 2012 under the Community Involvement section, for our role in becoming the Rural Big Society Vanguard. As part of our submission and to demonstrate our support for communities we produced a short film 'Growing up in the Garden of Eden'.

Unfortunately we didn't win, the winner from the seven other Councils shortlisted was Tyne Gateway Child Proverty Project.

Socitm's Local Government website of the year award 2011

Socitim's Best Local Public Service Website Award 2011 was presented to the Web Team in November 2011.

The Best Local Public Service Website Award recognises a council whose website has not only been listed as a "Top 20" site in better connected - Socitm's annual review of all local authority websites - but has also achieved top user ratings for visitor satisfaction and visit success from the Socitm Website take-up service.

RSPCA Gold Footprint - Stray Dogs 2011

RSPCA Gold Footprint was awarded to us in October 2011 for our stray dog service.

The Stray Dog Footprint aims to recognise those local authorities who have clear procedures in place that ensure both the welfare of the dogs and a consistency of service.

The number of stray dogs has fallen in Eden to about 100, thanks to owners having their dogs micro-chipped or wearing collars with name and address tags. These dogs can be easily returned to their owners, whilst non chipped or dogs not wearing collars are sent to registered kennels for a few nights with the cost being met by their owners.

CBEN Cumbria Business Environment Network 2011 - Gold

CBEN Cumbria Business Environment Network 2011 - Gold Environmental Award was given to us in August last year. After we extended our environmental policy to include the use of Therma-fleece insulation in some our buildings, the fitting of time clocks on some electrics, the introduction of a Green Information Technology Policy and 'Green Week' to raise staff awareness of environmental issues.

Green Flag Award

The Green Flag Award status was awarded to us in July 2011 for Penrith Cemetery.

The Green Flag Awards recognise and reward the best green spaces in the country. It is the national standard for parks in England and Wales, and recognises well managed, high quality areas.

Penrith Cemetery has achieved Green Flag Award status as it is an important and valuable facility well appreciated by visitors and the bereaved.

Equality Framework for Local Government - Achieving

The Equality Framework for Local Government (EFLG) is a performance improvement and benchmarking tool. It builds on and develops the work councils have done on the Equality Standard for Local Government (ESLG). The EFLG contains many new features, is simpler to use and more relevant to the way local authorities work today.

As a Council we had to demonstrate that we had certain characteristics to be classed as having reached the achieving level of the Equality Framework for Local Government.