Trio’s delight at royal honours
ASCOUT leader and charity hero has been honoured by the Queen with the British Empire Medal for services to Children and Young People in Rossendale.
District Scout Commissioner Louise Cooper, of Haslingden, has been involved in scouting for 34 years and is a trustee with the Kids in Rossendale children’s charity, an organisation she helped set up in 2013 to raise funds to support disadvantaged children.
A former Rossendale Woman of the Year, Louise is on the event’s fundraising committee in aid of Rossendale Hospice, and has been centre manager at Crawshawbooth’s Village Centre for more than ten years.
Louise, who lives in Haslingden, said she was “overwhelmed” to find out she had landed the honour, but said she does what she does on a daily basis because she enjoys it rather than recognition.
She said: “Somebody said ‘ If you can’t fix the problem, you’re one of those people that finds someone who can’. I’ve got an awful lot of friends in lots of different walks of life. If you see me with a clipboard then you know you’re in trouble!
“It’s really nice to be recognised for what you do and I’m just extremely pleased that somebody has put my name forward. Whoever did it, thank you for recognising what I do.”
The Cooper family are synonymous with the scouts in Rossendale, with Louises’s husband Andrew leading the 38th Rossendale (Open) Scout Group, son Oliver a Beaver Scout leader, and daughter Emma Cub Scout Leader.
Louise, who also works for East Lancashire Scouts as the county administrator, is also a former recipient of the Chief Scout personal award from Bear Grylls. In 2015, she was further recognised by the Scout Association with the Award of the Silver Acorn in recognition of specially distinguished service.
Louise, 54, said together with Paula Riley and Janet Wilmot, they formed the ‘three musketeers’ of Kids in Rossendale.
She said: “I couldn’t do it without those two. We all work really, really hard with it. Whether it’s Kids in Rossendale, or scouting or providing Christmas presents for families that don’t have enough money, or Christmas food parcels because they have no food, I couldn’t do any of it without the team that I work with.
“I have the wackiest of ideas and then we try to pull it together.”
She described Kids in Rossendale as like an ‘anonymous helper’, enabling young people to continue sports or talents they might not be able to afford, and giving them their own personal space in life.
“It enables young people to have that vision of something they want to achieve and hopefully we let them achieve it,” she said. I believe that if you instil something in young people that will serve them for the rest of their life.”
Louise, who has rheumatoid arthritis, recently got involved with another fundraising venture for Versus Arthritis and her sponsored walks “come rain or shine” have already raised £ 250.
Hazel Harding, chair of Crawshawbooth Community Association, said: “We are all delighted because we know how hard Louise works - not just for us but in other voluntary capacities as well. It’s amazing, particularly as she has her share of health problems. She is a trooper for us; she only works for us part-time, but we get more than part-time work out of her.
“She is committed to the centre and to the people of Crawshawbooth.”