FOLLOWING the death of Copeland Council’s former Chief Executive Pat Graham, Cumberland Council Chief Executive and former Allerdale Chief Executive, Andrew Seekings, has paid tribute:
“Pat spent 13 years with Copeland, as Head of Development Operations, Director People and Places and Director of Economic Growth, then as Managing Director and finally, Chief Executive.
“Pat and I met about nine years ago when Copeland and Allerdale shared services together. We more recently worked closely together as the county and district councils were reorganised to create Cumberland Council.
“Pat’s drive and energy was instrumental in the successful Copeland and Allerdale proposal for the reorganisation of local government. What become clear was that she wanted to support the most vulnerable in our society, wanting everyone to fulfil their potential and drive forward truly transformational change.
“She wanted Copeland – where she was born and bred – to be the very best, and she led personally on projects that will affect the lives of residents for generations - Town Deals, a PFI exit, the Whitehaven Campus and the Industrial Solutions Hub in her home town of Cleator Moor, to name just a few.
“She also forged pivotal relationships with the nuclear sector and was able to influence and negotiate significant investment for communities across Copeland that have and will continue to change lives.
Cumberland Council Leader, Mark Fryer, added: “I admired Pat’s unwavering commitment to the community she served, her innate fairness and her desire to help those in society who needed a little more support.
“Her legacy will live on in the work she led and in future services for Cumberland, based on a set of values such as compassion and ambition, that were central to the way Pat worked every day.”
The council has lowered the flags on its main buildings as a mark of respect.
A photograph of Pat Graham:
https://dmscdn.vuelio.co.uk/publicitem/64c07d5d-fd2f-43bc-90c0-4c3b3aa0a0bb/webversion