Women and girls charity founder Kate Blakemore from Wistaston has ended the year on a high as a guest of the Princess of Wales at Westminster Abbey.
Mum-of-three Kate, founder of Her-Place Charitable Trust, joined guests including royals, celebrities and other local heroes who have helped their communities at stunning candle-lit carol service.
The service, held annually by the Princess, was on the theme of kindness and showing love to others with a mix of traditional carols, music and poems from actors such as Kate Winslet and Chiwetel Ejiofor – and a Bible reading from the pulpit by Prince William.
The Royal honour brought a remarkable year to a close for the Wistaston mum-of-three who is also ending her time as ‘Wistonian of the Year’ – an award given for significant contribution to the community.
Kate is chair of 35th South West Cheshire scouts in Wistaston and chair of “A Statue for Ada” which honours the legacy of Crewe’s Ada Nield Chew, a pioneering campaigner for women’s rights.
She is a member of Crewe Town Board and the new One Crewe Board which aims to boost civic pride in Crewe.
This year she has also become a trustee for Cheshire Roses cancer support group in Nantwich.
“It was such an honour to be invited to Westminster Abbey,” said Kate.
“My invitation came via Cheshire Lord-Lieutenant, Lady Redmond MBE and I believe I was among only one or two people from Cheshire. The Princess, the Abbey, the music – everything was just beautiful.
“It rounds off a year I’ll always treasure and one in which I was also proud to represent Wistaston – the village where I was brought up and where Her-Place is based.”
Kate’s highlights as Wistonian of the Year have included attending the village fete, duck race on Joey the Swan and judging the fancy dress at the village fireworks.
Her-Place, formerly known as Motherwell Cheshire, has also had highs this year including winning South Cheshire Chamber’s Ambassador of the Year award for leadership, community engagement and innovation.
From its Beech Drive Hub, it runs services to support health and wellbeing in addition to a popular recycling scheme offering free school uniforms and baby items.
From a new base in Winsford, it runs a free community laundrette – a scheme it hopes to launch in Crewe soon.
Women and girls are supported with counselling to manage poor mental health, anxiety, depression, menopause and mothering challenges or grief following baby loss.
Her-Place also campaigns to end period poverty with free hygiene products and in Crewe it is working with the Dome Crewe Youth Zone on a project to create safe spaces for girls.
This year, Her-Place has supported a record 5,000 individuals, offering a staggering £3,657,032 of economic value to the community.
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