In the week before Christmas, Barrow town centre is looking festive.
Christmas light reflections and freshly cleaned streets help give the impression that Barrow is ending 2025 in a better position than at the start of the year.
Even the rain can’t dampen the enthusiasm of the man behind the Team Barrow initiative who has come to see for himself how support from the project is helping some of those who have applied for help.
Simon Case, the chair of Team Barrow, has spent the week in the area.
As well as bidding farewell to the retiring chief executive of Westmorland and Furness Council, he has attended the council’s cabinet meeting at which the authority’s budget was discussed.
But as the architect of the idea which brought BAE Systems, Westmorland and Furness Council and central government together and the man who coined the name Team Barrow, he is keen to see for himself what impact the project has had on the town.
Business Crack was invited to join Lord Case and members of the small team who have helped channel support into deserving causes in Barrow to meet some of those who have benefitted.
In March Team Barrow awarded £650,000 in grants to nine charities in the area ranging from £50,000 to £100,000.
The town’s Women’s Community Matters housed within the impressive Nan Tait Centre was among the recipients.
Demand for their services is growing. Eight people a day looking for help or advice approach the charity with 2,793 recorded last year, a significant number given that the population of Barrow is around 67,000 people.
In recent years a lack of funding has led to tough decisions about how many people can be supported and the range of services provided.
Earlier this year the charity was forced to make redundancies, something senior officer Rebecca Robson says could have been worse had it not been for support from Team Barrow.
Women’s Community Matters was awarded £100,000, money which Rebecca says came just in time.
“The funding from Team Barrow really helped as it came at a really, really critical time,” she recalls.
“Unfortunately, we did have to make some redundancies earlier this year but I think without this funding the service could have looked very, very different.
“We were on a precipice and without the funding we would have probably had to make cuts that I’m not sure how viable some elements of our service would have been.”
The bulk of the funding was used to keep critical staff in place. So how does 2026 look?
“Better than it did! I just looked at all of my spreadsheets the other day and I think funding is always really, really difficult for all charities and third sector organisations,” she said.
“We’re not out of the woods yet. We look better than we did this time last year but a lot of that is because we’ve lost staff that we’ve not been able to replace. So our deficit is less than it was this time last year but we haven’t got enough staff to support all of the people that we know are going to come through the doors.”
“We just keep working hard every day and hoping to keep the faith,” Rebecca added.
Visibly impressed by the variety of work that goes on and all too aware that the need at the centre will continue, Simon Case, his team and I walk across town – navigating the construction of a new cycle lane on Abbey Road – to meet another grateful group.
The Barrow and District Disability Association is a self-help disability charity that offers information, practical support and advice to people, their families and carers of all ages.
We meet Lorraine Irving, the charity’s long-serving and enthusiastic chief executive, who tells us how the tea and tech hub is a particular success story, enabling access to the web, online shopping or filling out the kind of forms increasingly needed for all aspects of life.
Her charity received £70,000, money which at a time when donations from other sources are declining, was welcome.
But the business support which came with it was equally important. She describes having the chance of being able to work with a business adviser as vital in order to gain a wider view of the opportunities that do exist instead of focussing entirely on the day-to-day job of running a popular charity.
“The core funding and business support means we are more sustainable,” Lorraine said.
A WhatsApp group has been set up so Lorraine and her colleagues in the charitable sector can keep in touch and share intelligence which might help each benefit collectively.
A few streets away is the former Chelsea Flower Show garden now tended with pride in its home overlooked by red bricked terraces.
Designer Andy Sturgeon’s Mind Garden may look subdued in its dormant winter state but Mind in Furness, the charity whose members look after it, are more confident about their future.
“We’ve seen some tough times with funding cuts that has been a challenge for maintaining our open-door policy,” Mel Gilmour, day service manager, said. Once again, while funding has certainly helped, the support of an external guide to look at the bottom line of the charity’s finances and offer ideas from a fresh perspective has been invaluable.
With between 60 and 80 people a day attending appointments at The William Bingley Centre on School Street, no cuts in services have had to be made despite a reduction in funding from the NHS. £100,000 from Team Barrow together with business support has again made a difference to a charity which offers support in Ulverston and Millom too.
As our whistlestop tour draws to a close, Simon Case is convinced such support is vital and admires the determination of the people we met in maintaining services he believes are crucial to Barrow’s future prosperity.
With many millions being spent building submarines ensuring some of that wealth is shared in a town which at the moment still faces many economic, health and wellbeing challenges, is he says at the crux of what Team Barrow is all about.
“Some of the most deprived wards in the country are here in Barrow despite the fact we spend millions of pounds every year,” Lord Case said and, as he told MPs on the defence committee earlier this year, reiterated that for the UK as a whole, Barrow plays a vital role in the country’s defence.
Team Barrow is one year into a 10 year plan to regenerate the town.
Before we met I wanted to see how Team Barrow’s work so far had gone down on the periphery of the town centre.
Jake Holden with his brother Kyle runs Asylum 287, a smart barber shop on Rawlinson Street.
“It’s a bit like Chinese whispers – we hear some news from Barrow BID and it’s great to see new planters and the murals which look lovely,” Jake – a new dad – said.
“There’s just not a lot to do for kids and I think that’s a problem. We did have a bowling alley which I now think we really miss.”
On Cavendish Street, with the distinctive smell of new carpet in the air, Diane Ward was busy preparing pre-Christmas orders at the business her family has run since 1988.
“We really miss the Forum since it shut and we do need more shops to encourage people to stay in town,” she said.
A member of Barrow’s Business Improvement District, she’s heard about the aims of Team Barrow but not the detail. “We need a covering over Portland Walk.”
Simon Case confirms that both the bowling alley and a new roof over the shopping thoroughfare are on the list of possible developments being drawn up.
When I ask him about bigger projects making the most of collaboration with central government he says the recent decision to invest in the Alfred Barrow Health Centre is proof that the partnership is paying off.
“We’re also having positive conversations with major national retailers,” he adds too. “We’re able to say to a variety of government departments that are looking to introduce or develop ideas to try them here first.”
Among them are the Department of Transport who are being lobbied to develop the whole Cumbrian coast railway line.
Simon Case says 2026 will be a big year for Team Barrow. Our podcast Northern Lights will feature a detailed conversation with him in January.
But for those at the charities we met who will be working over Christmas and new year to provide the support services that are in demand, their job has got a little bit easier thanks to the partnership.
“There is new energy in the town and I can really see a step change in what’s happening,” Lorraine Irving, chief executive of The Barrow and District Disability Association said. “The fact it’s a ten-year plan and not just a few years means it has chance to make a difference.”
As a proud Barrovian Rebecca Robson of the Women’s Community Matters is, she says, naturally sceptical yet is confident Team Barrow can make a long-term difference.
“I think that collectively we need to create safe spaces and places and a safety net so that everybody can benefit not just a few people who are ready now to jump into great jobs and to grasp the opportunities with both hands,” Rebecca said.
“I think it’s really important that the rest of us do everything that we can to support everyone to access those opportunities, whether they’re adults or young people.”
So does she think Team Barrow can make the kind of major changes the town needs?
“I’ve asked them lots of difficult questions. They’ve given me really good answers. So on a personal level, I think they can do it.”
