Cumbria Woman of the Year 2025 – Teresa Mulholland

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Teresa is the Community Sports Trust Organiser at Carlisle United where she works with many groups including Silent Footprints for infant loss, the Dementia Café, Andy’s Man Club and numerous others.

Our winner exemplifies everything the award represents. Leadership, Empathy and Courage and determination to help others. Judges heard that Teresa has made a great impact on her local community and much wider area of the county.

During her 20 years as a volunteer she has helped thousands of people from new born babies to the elderly. She’s been involved in helping young parents, setting up cyber cafes for the over 60s, helped to run school breakfast clubs and even found time to help military veterans.

Teresa lost her husband when he was just 35 and was left to raise two young children. She found the strength during this difficult time to reach out to help others. This is an example of the strength and unselfishness along with her dedication to a whole variety of causes that makes up proud to recognise Teresa Mulholland as Cumbria Woman of the Year.

Services to the Community– Lisa Dent

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Lisa works as a Probation Officer in Barrow, nominated for the exceptional way she goes above and beyond her day job to make a difference to the lives of the people she works with and the community she supports.

Lisa runs Community Payback for offenders, Lisa prioritises supporting rehabilitation to prevent reoffending. The individuals Lisa work’s with often have complex personal situations and need support, Lisa takes on the role of supervisor, friend, teacher, even like a sister to them with the goal of ensuring that anyone on the programme is given the best opportunity to change their life. She works on developing them as people, helping to address their issues and supporting them in gaining new skills that will help them in their future.

Lisa gets to know her service users and can spot when someone has a problem, she lets them know she is available to talk and looks for opportunities to get a cup of tea with them and enable them to open up to her when they have a personal challenge, this gentle intervention is literally life-saving to some individuals.

Lisa works with a large number of local charities and uses her team to genuinely offer community payback. The list of projects she has supported is endless from an annual Christmas event to a community garden area to supporting local town centre events, often working unsociable hours to ensure the very best result for the organisation. Roles such as this are difficult and demanding, Lisa approaches it with relentless positivity, she has an infectious drive and unique manner that enables her to get the best from her service users, which in return is delivering a huge community benefit to our area.

Outstanding Contribution – Edith Bamber

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Edith Bamber’s name resonates with dedication and unwavering commitment. For the past 67 years, she has been a beacon of voluntary service to the Royal British Legion Her enduring contributions have left an indelible mark on the organisation and the lives of countless veterans and their families.  

Edith’s journey with the Royal British Legion began in her early adulthood, at the age of 16. Inspired by a deep-seated respect for those who served in the armed forces and a personal commitment to community service, she joined the Legion with the aim of making a difference.   Her approach is characterised by a personal touch, often involving local schools and businesses to foster a sense of collective responsibility and participation.

Special Achievement –Simone Beach

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There are leaders who manage a crisis — and then there are leaders like Simone Beach, Headteacher of Sacred Heart School in Barrow — whose courage, resilience and compassion have safeguarded the education of hundreds of children through a crisis of national significance.  

In 2023, Sacred Heart’s historic school building was declared structurally unsafe overnight. With just hours’ notice, Simone coordinated the emergency relocation of pupils, calmly leading staff, reassuring families, and ensuring the children had continuity in their education. To this day, the school operates across two temporary sites. The daily disruption has been immense, yet under Simone’s leadership, Sacred Heart continues to thrive — retaining its Good Ofsted rating and remaining a warm, joyful place for children to learn.  

Simone has fought tirelessly to ensure her school’s voice is heard — from local meetings to national media and government. Where others might have given up, she has never stopped stepping up. Her leadership is not just exceptional – it is transformational. In one of the most testing periods a school could face, Simone has protected a community, upheld dignity, and shown that true leadership is measured not by title or status, but by impact.