Tebay Services celebrate a year of community investment

This has largely revolved around a continued desire for community investment through their Westmorland Family Community Fund.

Thanks to the fund, Tebay Services has provided £88,500 to local groups and projects across 14 grants this year.

A spokesperson for the service station said: "We're looking back on some great memories 2023 has brought to our community, and this wouldn't be possible without each and every one of you, our customers."

As means of celebration, the station has been picking out some of their highlights in terms of the community projects they have backed.

Through foyer collections alone, workers at the Kirkby Stephen Mountain Rescue Team managed to raise £11,482 in 2023.

The spokesperson explained: "The team is funded entirely by public donation, and we are proud that the money they raise throughout the year from collections at Tebay Services contributes around 40% of the amount needed to cover their basic running costs."

Added onto this, the past year has seen the formation of Growing Well, a group that is now operating five days a week at the service station.

The team of workers at Growing Well (Image: Growing Well)

Since their introduction, the volunteers have produced 400kg of salad and 700 punnets of tomatoes, all of which goes to the service's farm shops.

Growing Well has also created a combined total of 1800m2 of growing space both outside and within the service station.

Away from growing produce, the group has also had an impact on the wellbeing of visitors, having supported over 100 people with their mental health.

In addition to these schemes, the community fund also backed the LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) careers event at Tebay Southbound.

In the sessions, the aim was to inspire the next generation of agricultural workers, with 120 GCSE Food and Agriculture students from UCC, Kirkby Stephen Grammar and QEGS taking part.