OUR Pride of East Lancashire campaign is about promoting the area's unsung heroes and achievements.

But do the people who live and work in the area do enough to promote its many attributes, or are they too modest?

Donna McKenzie asked community leaders and the main campaign sponsor for their views...

ONE of the main purposes of this campaign is to celebrate the fantastic achievements of the whole area.

This is a mission East Lancashire Partnership, the main campaign sponsor, believes in whole heartedly and it hopes our campaign will kick start the procedure.

But Dennis Taylor, chief executive, says one of the main reasons the area's achievements are not as widely known as they ought to be is because the people are so modest.

He said: "It's time the people of East Lancashire started to really believe in themselves.

"This campaign is a wake up call to the people of East Lancashire to really take stock of what they are achieving and realise just how great a place it is.

"I am an outsider who has only been in East Lancashire for six months, but I have already grown immensely proud of the area. I'm really proud I work here and I am constantly banging the drum for the area.

"But I am saddened that so many people are so slow to sing their own praises.

"The people of East Lancashire are very modest by nature. They are honest people who think what they do achieve is expected and that they shouldn't be blowing their own trumpet.

"One of the reasons we are sponsoring this campaign is because we as a partnership believe that the area should be promoted. It is our intention to kick start a mechanism that will promote the area and its people and we want to tell everybody the good news.

"It is time for us to work together and let the rest of the world know that East Lancashire is a place to invest in, work in and be educated in - a place you should want to be in."

What is agreed, throughout the area, is that there is a lot to shout about and leader of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council Bill Taylor especially supports the first award for Community Groups. He said: "I was fortunate to be mayor of the borough about 15 years ago and when you are in that position you spend a lot of time with voluntary and charity groups.

"It is invigorating and sometimes humbling to see the fantastic work that hundreds and hundreds of people put in and the hours they give for these organisations.

"That fills me with optimism, but sometimes I wish that some of our citizens would be more confident and more ambitious."

A number of organisations, including the local authorities of East Lancashire, work exceptionally hard to promote the region's accomplishments but we now want to encourage individuals to shout just as loudly.

Peter Britcliffe, leader of Hyndburn Borough Council, said: "I have great pride in East Lancashire.

"As a council we are not shy about telling people of our achievements and we produce a visitors guide which is distributed throughout the country.

"We also work with a number of partnerships to promote the whole of East Lancashire. But there is always more that can be done to advocate the region and I would encourage the people of East Lancashire to be less shy and more forthright about their achievements.

"This campaign gives them the perfect opportunity."