ARK Community Gardens in Newcastle has been honoured for its work in the local community. The group received an award at the recent Live Here Love Here 2024 Community Awards. The awards celebrated the many individuals, schools and community organisations that dedicate their time to improving the environment through activities such as education, litter-picking, and tackling biodiversity loss. The public were encouraged to nominate recipients throughout January and a total of 12 awards were distributed at the recent awards evening.
Ark Community Gardens received the Community Together Award, supported by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, in acknowledgement of its efforts to address community division through environmental action. Ark Community Gardens is a local charity based on a three-acre site, which aims to help people of all ages throughout the community to grow their friendships, knowledge and skills across a wide range of subjects and activities such as vegetable growing, gardening, crafts, woodworking, food and nutrition and looking after the environment. A second local group also received an award at the Live Here Love Here Awards.
The Saintfield Community Association Environment Team received the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Champions Award, in recognition of their commitment to carrying out environmental improvement schemes, seasonal planting and weekly tidying activities, including picking up litter on all main roads leading into Saintfield. The Environment Team, which has won six Ulster in Bloom awards in the last six years, consists of around 25 volunteers. About 10 volunteers look after the community garden behind Saintfield Community Centre, growing vegetables in a poly-tunnel, a greenhouse and in raised beds. The other volunteers pick up litter on all main roads leading into Saintfield and sweep and litter pick the Main Street, including clearing leaves under the mature lime trees every autumn. They also plant and maintain dozens of planters and hanging baskets, two wild flower areas and the five gateway signs.
Lawrence Murphy, the chair of the Environment Team, said he and his fellow team members were pleased to be chosen for this award. “Our environmental team appreciate this recognition of the efforts we make in the place where we live to improve our environment. The team always seem to be motivated to do something outside to keep it clean and keep it green, always learning something,” Lawrence said. “We do like to make a difference and motivate people to join us and make a contribution on all the main areas around our village – cleaning, litter picking a tidy village and creating and maintaining the flower beds. “We like to cooperate and work with all our many contacts, internal and external, to produce these results in our community and our efforts our supported by our community,” he said. Newry, Mourne and Down District Council chairperson Valerie Harte praised Live Here Love Here for “helping local groups to take voluntary and practical environmental action to improve their communities”.
Cllr Harte added: “It is encouraging to see how many local groups have committed to making the place where they live cleaner, greener and more environmentally friendly. “We work closely with Live Here Love Here and are delighted to see how many of our constituents have engaged with their programmes. “Their work plays a significant part in helping us achieve our goal of improving our local environmental quality. “Every improvement action that takes place in our local communities, however small, adds to the overall wellbeing of our district.” 2024 marks 10 years since Live Here Love Here was established.
Lynda Surgenor, Live Here Love Here Manager, said its annual community awards “honour the diverse environmental contributions made by community members across Northern Ireland”. “We extend our warmest congratulations to all the nominees and recipients – their remarkable achievements will inspire others to join the movement towards a cleaner, greener, and more connected Northern Ireland. “We also extend our thanks to DAERA, Belfast Harbour, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and our nine council partners, whose support has been instrumental in the positive momentum of Live Here Love Here.” Some of Live Here Love Here’s initiatives include ‘Big Spring Clean’ and ‘Adopt a Spot’. For more information on its work, visit the website www.liveherelovehere.org.