Press release: October 2007

Diana Barnard, who was amongst the seven inspirational men and women recognised at LB Group´s Inspiration East honours awards night in Chelmsford last week, has triumphed again.

She led a team that raised more than £1000 at the second Friends of St Felix Fashion Show, held at the Elizabeth Orwell Hotel in Felixstowe.

Diana, previously the driving force behind successful outside caterers, Barnard Catering, has raised nearly £40,000 in just 18 months to safeguard the comfort and security of the residents of St Felix Home for the Blind, in Felixstowe.

Other local winners of LB Group´s Inspiration East honours programme included Jackie Stoneman, the managing director of Select Recruitment and Key Personnel, a successful recruitment consultancy with offices in Suffolk, Essex and Poland. Her caring attitude and commitment to training and development has contributed to exceptional levels of staff retention in an industry where poaching is rife.

Also from Suffolk is Zoe Compton, who was nominated by her boss, Chris Barnard, at P-tek Development Solutions for her "can do" attitude. She takes a pro-active approach to customer care and has as a result fuelled the rapid growth of the business. He describes her as "absolutely indispensible."

The awards, run by leading chartered accountants and business advisers, LB Group, were established five years ago to recognise special people who inspire others to succeed.

The awards were presented by locally-born Stuart Galbraith, the successful music promoter who was responsible for the production for the 2005 Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, which attracted 200,000 people. Stuart, a previous student at Northgate High School in Ipswich said, ""You will find that most people who are very successful in business at some point have chosen to follow their heart rather than their head."

Trevor Lake, managing director of LB Group, said, "We were delighted to hear that Diana simply goes from strength to strength in her fundraising. This is exactly the kind of achievement that we seek to recognise within the framework of Inspiration East. Diana is just one those many people who seek to make a difference to those around them. Diana and the other winners are quite simply, outstanding people."

Fidel Cantantan, managing director of Colchester-based Jamesons Residential Care Home Ltd, has been involved in care work for more than 30 years, and was recognised for his strong work ethic. He takes a "hands on" approach to caring, being involved in many different hands on aspects of the business from organising parties, to helping with shopping and cleaning, despite his senior role.

Other winners included Kathy Mason from Dagenham, Margaret White from Ilford and Eric Shelley, a Princes Trust Business Adviser from Norfolk.