Cumbria Woman of the Year 2017 is the inspirational Sue Ka-veney, described as someone with a zest for life, always willing to support and listen, and always smiling, too.
After the 2015 floods Sue volunteered at Greystone Road Com-munity Centre answering phones, feeding people, sorting dona-tions and liaising with insurance companies on behalf of those affected. Basically, she just did whatever needed doing. When she heard that Ghurka veterans were sleeping on floors in Car-lisle, she persuaded Sealy beds to donate six beds then her friends and colleagues raised money to furnish them with bed-ding, pillows … Another case of seeing something needed do-ing, and just making it happen.
Sue has had a long-term involvement with the Royal British Le-gion, and is now a volunteer Case Worker – a time-consuming, emotional and complex role at times, and one that she fulfils with tact, empathy and patience. She has sold poppies for years, co-ordinating a happy band of volunteers to run a stall in the run up to Remembrance Day and selflessly delivers presents to ex servicemen at Christmas.
She runs: a team leader at her running club, she raises funds with her pals, the Prosecco Princesses – they ran the Race for Life, amongst others, to raise funds for Cancer Research UK.A keen football fan, she is also a Trustee for the Carlisle United Community Sports Trust, encouraging young people, especially those facing personal challenges, to participate in sport.
Oh, and in her spare time, she runs a busy and successful HR Consultancy… Kaveney HR Solutions. And she got married this year. She is, by common consent, really quite a woman!