Charity advocate is made Lancashire's new High Sheriff
A former property chief and a champion for youth and prison charities is Lancashire's new High Sheriff.Jim Carter is set to be installed in the position in a ceremony at County Hall in Preston on Friday.The philanthropist, who lives in Chorley, said he intends to "do all he can to make a difference" in the county during his year in office.The 69-year-old said his heart "skipped a beat" when he received a phone call from Buckingham Palace, notifying him of his Royal appointment.
He told BBC Radio Lancashire he was relishing his year in the historic role.High Sheriffs are largely ceremonial and focus on supporting the monarchy's interests, the judiciary and law enforcement, while also supporting voluntary and other local organisations. Mr Carter, who is currently Deputy Lieutenant, has been a passionate advocate for OnSide, a national charity aiming to develop youth zones in all major urban centres in the UK, for about 15 years.He was until recently a board member at both Chorley and Preston Youth Zone.
'Very moving'
The 69-year-old said: "I've had a lump in my throat from seeing what can be achieved by kids who've come in, troubled, with no self-esteem and left with careers."Mr Carter is also a member of the employment advisory board at HMP Lancaster Farms, working alongside Edwin Booth, chairman of the Booths supermarket chain, to help released prisoners find work and accommodation.He said it was "very moving" work.
During his year of office, he said he wants to bring the national charity Getting Court - a preventative and educational initiative that aims to keep young people out of trouble - to Lancashire.Alongside his charity work Mr Carter has also had an extensive career in property and construction including almost four decades at the Lancashire-based Eric Wright Group where he was chief executive and deputy chairman.The company is owned by the Eric Wright Charitable Trust, which invests profits back into the community.The long-serving Lancashire Enterprise Partnership board member also chaired the City Deal Board, which secured £400m of government infrastructure funding for Preston and South Ribble.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
34 minutes ago
- NBC News
Frozen in time: No Canadian hockey team has won the Stanley Cup since 1993
Besieged Canadians are fighting back with their weapons of choice: skates, sticks and pucks. While Americans might see the Edmonton Oilers-Florida Panthers Stanley Cup final as a clash of two highly skilled, pan-national clubs, many Canadians view this series as nothing short of a battle for the Great White North's national sovereignty. A Canadian-based NHL club hasn't hoisted Lord Stanley 's famed chalice since 1993. And that drought has morphed from a tongue-in-cheek taunt of Canada's hockey prowess into serious conversations about Canadian national identity, as U.S. President Donald Trump openly talks about annexing America's next-door neighbor. "This had been a joke, but now you feel a difference this year (with the Stanley Cup), especially with the threats against Canadian sovereign and the general political climate," said Andre Costopoulos, anthropology department chair at the University of Alberta. "You can hear it in people's conversations, on the street, in the office, that it sounds more urgent." How to watch the Stanley Cup finals Game 1 of the best-of-7 series begins Wednesday in Edmonton when the defending-champion Florida Panthers visit for an 8 p.m. EDT start. A possible Game 7 would be June 20 in Edmonton. Eight of the 24 finals this century have gone the distance. All games will be carried, in the Untied States, on TNT and truTV and streamed on Max. A Canadian team hasn't won the Stanley Cup since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens. Edmonton is a -125/+105 series favorite over Florida in Las Vegas. Since summer 1994, North America's most revered trophy has made its metaphoric, rented home below the 49th parallel in a streak that has united Canada against the red, white and blue. "I acknowledge this lot of frustration from Canadians about the approach of the United States, the new administration, toward our economy, toward our sovereignty and general attitude toward Canada," Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi told NBC News on Tuesday. "Absolutely there's a large number of people (Canadians) who are frustrated by that." But ever the politician, Sohi opted for the more upbeat spin and held hope the upcoming Oilers-Panthers series can show Canadians and Americans they have much more in common than not. "I see this is an opportunity, in a way, [to] rally behind our two teams, and here, in our case the Oilers, and turn this into competitive, but also friendly match in a way that that gives us the opportunity to showcase the best of our country," said the mayor of 1 million Edmontonians in a city a touch larger than San Jose and hair smaller than Dallas. Despite the Stanley Cup drought, there's still little debate that hockey is Canada's sport, at least in plurality. Of the 920 skaters who laced it up for NHL clubs in 2024-25, 382 were born in Canada (41.5%) compared to 290 forwards and defensemen from the United States (31.5%). Of the 103 men between the pipes this season, 31 were born in Canada (30%) and 21 were from America (20.3%). And it's likely no Canadian hockey fans had any memories of the Stanley Cup drought this past Feb. 20, when Edmonton's Connor McDavid's overtime score gave Canada a 3-2 win over the United States in the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off, reaffirming the Great White North's frozen pond superiority. "You can feel it, definitely. There's a need for affirmation and the need for affirmation of sovereignty, not just for sports," Costopoulos said. "It's broader than that." The mockery of Canada having not brought home a Stanley Cup might not be statistically fair. Of the NHL's 32 teams, only seven are based in Canada. So with all factors being equal, there's just a 21.875% chance in any given year that either the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs or Montreal Canadiens will hoist the Stanley Cup. Still, the drought has certainly been grating on Canadian fans with titles being won in Sun Belt locales such as Las Vegas, Anaheim, Tampa, Raleigh and Sunrise, Florida. There was a time when the NHL's move to warm weather America was considered a foolish act. "There was sort of a general feeling of, 'Is this going to work? Does anyone in South Florida really care about hockey?'" said Kimberly Taylor, a professor of marketing at Florida International University. The success of hockey in South Florida, where it hasn't snowed since 1977, could be attributed to the central locale of the Panthers' arena, the region's transitory population, hockey's appeal to modern sports fans with shorter attention spans and, most of all, the team's recent winning, the FIU professor said. "The puck is always moving, even if it's not super high scoring. People are taking shots on goal," she said. "The nonstop action really does appeal to a lot of people (no matter their hockey background)." The NHL has been moving toward sunshine for more than three decades. The Lightning (established in 1992), Panthers (1993), Nashville Predators (1998) and Vegas Golden Knights (2017) were added to the league down south, and the Hartford Whalers turned into the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997. "McDonald's is more real estate than they are fast food, right?" University of Miami sports science professor Tywan Martin said. "The property is more valuable than the store. The same applies in sports. The NHL is proof you can go into nontraditional territories." Since Montreal won it all in 1993, seven Canadian teams have made it to the Stanley Cup final only to lose to a U.S.-based club, often in a heartbreaking Game 7. The New York Rangers finally quieted the "1940!" chant by hoisting the Stanley Cup following a Game 7 win over the Vancouver Canucks in 1994. It took seven games for the Tampa Bay Lightning extinguish the Calgary Flames in 2004. The Carolina Hurricanes needed a Game 7 to blow away Edmonton in 2006. The Anaheim Ducks flew south for the winter with Lord Stanley's cup after five games against the Ottawa Senators in 2007. The Boston Bruins needed all seven games to knock out Vancouver in 2011. The Tampa Bay Lightning zapped Montreal in five games in 2021. And last year, Florida emptied the tank in a thrilling seven-game triumph over Edmonton. The Panthers took Game 7 in Florida. It's been so, so close, eh? "Obviously I'm biased but I know the Oilers are going to win this time as we have advantage because the final game (Game 7) is in Edmonton," Sohi said. "But I think this is an opportunity to really rise above some of the division that we're seeing and unite as two countries."
NBC News
39 minutes ago
- NBC News
OpenAI tops 3 million paying business users, launches new features for workplace
OpenAI on Wednesday announced that it now has 3 million paying business users, up from the 2 million it reported in February. The San Francisco-based startup rocketed into the mainstream in late 2022 with its consumer-facing artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, and began launching workplace-specific versions of the product the following year. The 3 million users include ChatGPT Enterprise, ChatGPT Team and ChatGPT Edu customers, OpenAI said. 'There's this really tight interconnect between the growth of ChatGPT as a consumer tool and its adoption in the enterprise and in businesses,' OpenAI's chief operating officer Brad Lightcap told CNBC in an interview. The company supported 400 million weekly active users as of February. OpenAI expects revenue of $12.7 billion this year, a source confirmed to CNBC. In September of last year, the company expected to see an annual loss of $5 billion on $3.7 billion in revenue, according to a person close to the company who asked not to be named because the financials are confidential. Lightcap said OpenAI is seeing its business tools adopted across industries, including highly regulated sectors like financial services and health care. Companies including Lowe's, Morgan Stanley and Uber are users, OpenAI said. The company also announced new updates to its business offerings on Wednesday. ChatGPT Team and ChatGPT Enterprise users can now access 'connectors,' which will allow workers to pull data from third-party tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, SharePoint, Box and OneDrive without leaving ChatGPT. Additional deep research connectors are available in beta. OpenAI launched another capability called 'record mode' in ChatGPT, which allows users to record and transcribe their meetings. It's initially available with audio only. Record mode can assist with follow up after a meeting and integrates with internal information like documents and files, the company said. Users can also turn their recordings into documents through the company's Canvas tool. Lightcap said enterprise customers have been asking for updates like these, and that they will help make OpenAI's workplace offerings more useful. 'It's got to be able to do tasks for you, and to do that, it's got to really have knowledge of everything going on around you and your work,' Lightcap said. 'It can't be the intern locked in a closet. It's got to be able to see what you see.' OpenAI said it has been signing up nine enterprises a week, and Lightcap said the company will try to sustain that pace over time. 'People are starting to really figure out that this is a part of the modern tool stack in the knowledge economy that we live in,' he said.
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Aberdeen ‘join race for prolific youth striker who had interest from Celtic during 51-goal season'
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) ABERDEEN have reportedly expressed interest in signing a prolific young striker who was on trial at Celtic this year. The Irish teenage sensation has several clubs on his trail - including Celtic and Aberdeen - after scoring 51 goals in all competitions last season. Sign up for the Celtic newsletter Sign up 1 He had more than one trial at Lennoxtown Credit: The Sun Shay Reid, 16, topped the Northern Ireland U20 Premiership Development League goal-scoring charts, scoring 23 goals in 32 appearances. The Cliftonville prospect enjoyed an even more impressive campaign down an age group with the U18s too as he found the net 21 times in 25 outings. His sensational form has unsurprisingly put him on the map, with several clubs from across the UK keeping tabs on his development. Reid had two trial periods at Lennoxtown at the beginning of the year but Celtic didn't make a decision on the 16-year-old. He has plenty of options elsewhere though, should Celtic decline to make a swoop, as Premiership rivals Aberdeen are believed to be interested along with a host of other clubs. The Belfast News Letter states he has also caught the attention of EFL Championship sides Preston North End and Wrexham, the newly-promoted Welsh-based club owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Meanwhile, Aberdeen are also planning a swoop for another striker to add extra firepower to the first team for next season. Jimmy Thelin is set to lose Kevin Nisbet after his loan stint from Millwall ended, while Oday Dabbagh's future at his parent club Charleroi is currently unclear. Reports state, however, that Thelin has his eyes on another target to fill the void in attack. The Dons are reportedly interested in signing Ronan Hale from Ross County following their relegation to the Championship. He scored 18 goals for the Staggies last season but failed to prevent them from the drop. The 26-year-old still has two years left on his deal at Dingwall after only joining the club last summer but he is expected to move on in the coming weeks. Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
