Thank you for all the encouragement and, of course, the financial support so far for our 25^th Anniversary Awards initiative.

As things stand (beginning of February), we can confirm that we already have funding and donations to make at least three Awards later in the year, and that's without the £500 that we hope to raise from sales of our co-operative members' 25^th anniversary collection (see separate blog coming soon).

So, there are three things to say:

Firstly, thank you if you have already contributed to the Award fund.

Cecilia Hewett, a former member of The Wool Clip, is one of those who has contributed: "It's such a great idea that (The Wool Clip) has had to support up-and-coming woolworkers in this way."

We will be acknowledging more donations in the coming weeks and months and would very much like to thank any anonymous supporters too.

Secondly, if you would like to contribute, all the bank details and options are in the Share our Passion blog. Each Award will offer £250 of support to those in the early stages of their wool business and we'd love to be announcing as many winners as possible before the end of the year.

And, finally, if you (or someone you know) would like to enter for an Anniversary Award, we're planning to launch entries later in February – look out for details and an entry form on our social media and on our website very soon.

"It's really encouraging to know that the idea of Anniversary Awards is taking shape as the funding comes in," said Chloe Randall of The Wool Clip and a member of the Awards team. "There are all sorts of barriers to creating or growing a small business and our hope is that a £250 Award – and the connections into The Wool Clip's membership and experience – will make it easier for some of those across Cumbria wanting to add value