The Town Clerk took the roll call of all Members present.
Received and accepted from Cllr F Chatfield, Cllr P Griffiths and Cllr C Rudd.
Received and accepted from Cllr W McEwan, Cllr A Coles, and Cllr H Edwards in respect of their membership on the Westmorland and Furness Council.
No items were considered for exclusion.
The mayor introduced Lesley Mease from CRY, her chosen charity for 2026-27.
CRY is a Barrow based and national charity that raises awareness of potentially life-threatening cardiac abnormalities in young people. They provide ECG screening to young persons (14 years of age is the acceptable level of heart development), and they provide counselling to bereaved parents. 12 young persons' die every week, yet no financial support is received from the government who believe the screening to be detrimental to the health of the young person.
The condition cannot be detected after death, with no prior warning given. Most of the deaths occur during rest or sleep periods, and sadly after such a period Lesley discovered her own son to be a casualty of this condition.
All expenditure for the screening in Barrow is met through parental donations and fundraising. One screening for 200 young person's costs £14,400. 30,000 tests are undertaken each year in the UK. 193 young persons attended the last screening in Barrow where 13 persons were referred for medical investigation. Evidence confirms out of every 300 tests at least one person will be referred.
Senior schools in Barrow, Dalton and Ulverston have been made aware of the testing facility available to their young students, but to date none have responded.
The Barrow & Furness MP is the new Chair of the APPG (All-Party Parliamentary Group) and is actively meeting with top surgeons in the UK to lobby the Government to reconsider its funding decision.
Cllr W McEwan thanked Lesley for her presentation and proposed the Town Council lobby the local Secondary Schools on behalf of this wonderful initiative. Cllr K Hyland seconded the proposal. All agreed.
The Clerk to write to all local Secondary Schools.
The mayor thanked Lesley for her excellent presentation.
Cllr C Thomson enquired why no satisfactory response has been received from Westmorland and Furness Council in respect of Motion (3) approved under Min.352 of 19th May 2026 - “Demolition of the Forum Theatre and Barrow Market”. Cllr W McEwan noted he intends to once again raise this matter at the Westmorland and Furness Full Council on 30th July 2026. No further matters were raised.
Proposed by Cllr B Elliot and seconded by Cllr A Coes, and a vote having been taken, It was resolved