Nominations continue to roll in for our Person of the Week, the News & Star feature which each week shines a spotlight on someone who has achieved something special, whether it is a milestone in their career, selfless service to the community, or recognition for a simply amazing person who you think deserves applause.

Nominated this week by organisers of the Carlisle Covid 19 Community Help group, Ruth Crane is a regular volunteer at the food hub, working tirelessly to help make up emergency food packages, school meals parcels and generally to help with the work of the hub.

And helping to raise money for the group is Lee Brennan, lead singer with the band 911, who worked with Ruth on organising a raffle in aid of the Covid group which raised an amazing £2,025. That has gone such a long way to providing food and helps more then 200 children to have meals for a week.

A spokesman for the group said: “Lee approached us with this idea, entirely of his own initiative, offering a range of prizes from local businesses. The top prize was a post-lockdown lunch with Lee.

“This was won by Rachel Harris, and there were 25 fantastic prizes in all donated by local businesses.

“The raffle was shared across social media and proved very popular. Lee has also helped out at the hub, making up parcels."

Showing her support, Ruth said: “I helped out in the community after the floods in 2015, and I wanted to show my support in some way.

“Lee and I work together on events, and we saw this as an amazing opportunity to apply our experience to raise some funding for a great cause."

Lee said: “Every little bit of help during times like these can make a big difference.

"The community spirit and beyond has been amazing and I’m really proud we all managed to raise £2000 which will help more than 200 children.’

Organisers of the help group said: “We want to thank Ruth and Lee for coming up with this brilliant fundraising idea.

“Ruth works alongside us several days a week and is a dedicated volunteer.

“Having her work with Lee to run the raffle and raise so much money has been a huge help to us.”