Newsquest and Active Cumbria launch Cumbria Sports Awards 2025

Sponsored by Fibrus, a Full Fibre broadband company committed to supporting Cumbrian grassroots sports, the Cumbria Sports Awards 2025 will take place at Energus, Workington on Friday, February 28, 2025.

We are looking for nominations: Do you know someone who has excelled in their chosen sport throughout the last year? Is there a local hero who puts hours of time to keep their local club running? Or a school which makes sure that sport is at the heart of what they do? We want to hear from you!

The last time the awards were held in a physical format. (Image: Supplied)

Colin Hutchinson, chief financial officer at Fibrus, said: "We are delighted to be supporting the Cumbria Sports Awards. We are committed to playing a role in improving the health and wellbeing of children and young people, so investing in local communities is something which is very close to our hearts.

“Since we have started rolling out Full Fibre broadband in Cumbria, we have been able to support dozens of grassroots sports clubs through our Play it Forward fund. We have injected nearly £40,000 into grassroots sport in Cumbria, helping everything from Carlisle Hockey Club in the north, to Grange United FC in the south.

“And we are proud sponsors of Workington Town's men and ladies’ rugby league teams who both now play at the Fibrus Community Stadium.

Les Middleton, who won the service to sport award. (Image: Supplied)

“We can't wait to hear more about Cumbria's passion for sport in all its forms when the nominations start to come in. Good luck to everyone entering this year's awards."

The awards will be brought back in a physical form for the first time in five years thanks to a partnership between Newsquest Cumbria and Active Cumbria, allowing finalists to don their glitz and glam for the celebration event.

The Cumbria Sports Awards 2025 (Image: Supplied)

Emily Wood, sales director at Newsquest Cumbria, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Active Cumbria to bring these awards back to their physical format for 2025! Cumbria Sports Awards have a long and successful heritage of highlighting the best of sport in the county, and we can’t wait to help celebrate with the deserving finalists.

“Thank you to our inaugural headline sponsor Fibrus for their involvement; without them, it simply wouldn’t be possible.”

Winners at a former awards event. (Image: Supplied)

Richard Johnston, senior manager – operations at Active Cumbria said: “We are thrilled to be launching the 2025 Cumbria Sports Awards in partnership with Newsquest Cumbria, which for the first time in five years will see our winners announced at a high-profile presentation dinner.

“These awards are a real celebration of everything that is great about sport and physical activity in Cumbria, giving us the opportunity to recognise the talent and dedication of our elite athletes, but also the commitment of our coaches and volunteers in clubs, our teachers in schools, and the vast array of organisations that provide physical activity opportunities to help our communities become more active.

Former Team of the Year winners Barrow Raiders (Image: Supplied)

“We are looking forward to working in partnership with our colleagues at Newsquest to help take the event to another level.

“We look forward to receiving a great response and many high-quality nominations from across the county.”

Active Cumbria have thanked BBC Radio Cumbria presenter Mike Zeller who will once again present the awards.

Former Sports Person of the Year winner Georgia Stanway. (Image: Supplied)

Here are the categories for the Cumbria Sports Awards 2025:

Rising Star Award

This award is presented to the individual who has had the finest achievement in the last year in their chosen sport or discipline. This can either be individually or as part of a team.

Sports Personality Award

This award is presented to the individual who has had the finest achievement in the last year in their chosen sport or discipline. This can either be individually or as part of a team.

Coach of the Year Award

This award is presented to an individual who has delivered and achieved exceptional impact through coaching in the last year. The winner will be able to demonstrate the impact their coaching has had on those being coached, which could include improved performance, increased wellbeing, increased participation, or new and innovative approaches being adopted.

Young Achiever Award

This award is presented to an individual (aged under 18 on 31 December of this current year) who has given the greatest contribution to a sport, club, community group, or school in the last year. The winner will be able to demonstrate their contributions, and the difference their volunteering has had made to the setting during the last year.

The Becky Underwood Volunteer Award

This award is presented to an individual who has given the greatest contribution to a sport, club, performer, community group, or school in the last year. The winner will be able to demonstrate the impact their volunteering has had in terms of the progress made during the last year.

Service to Sport Award

This award is presented to an individual to acknowledge dedicated service to sport and physical activity in Cumbria over a prolonged period of time. The winner will be able to demonstrate the longevity of their involvement, the roles undertaken and the impact this has had on the delivery of sport and physical activity in their community.

Community Club Award

This award recognises a sports club that is providing exceptional opportunities for their local community. The winner will be able to demonstrate how it is increasing participation, the impact it is having on its members, and how it is having a positive impact in the local community.

Community Project Award

This award recognises a project that has used sport and physical activity as an engagement tool to improve the lives of the community. The winner will be able to demonstrate the impact the project is having on the lives of participants, who may come from specific groups such as those with a disability, long term health condition, older adults, ethnic diverse communities, or those from other less active groups, to create inclusive and accessible opportunities to be active.

Active Education Award

This award is presented to a school, college or university that can demonstrate a commitment to providing high quality and innovative approaches to physical activity and sporting opportunities for all pupils. The winner will be able to demonstrate how these innovative approaches have made a significant difference to activity levels in their setting during the last year.

Special Achievement Award

This award is presented to a nomination that can demonstrate a significant achievement during the last year which does not align specifically to the criteria of other award categories. These could be individual or collective achievements, those which may have used sport and physical activity for other purposes, or those that are just different, but still worthy of recognition and celebration. 

To nominate a sportsperson, individual or a sports team for these awards you can click here, or scan the QR code below.

You can nominate by scanning this QR code (Image: NQ staff)