New rural community award announced by Housing Executive

by Gráinne Connolly

The Housing Executive has announced a new Rural Community Award: The 'Sustainable Village of the Year'. 

It was announced at this year's Balmoral Show by the Housing Executive. 

The Sustainable Village of the Year, will be awarded to the overall winner of the two existing categories: the Cleaner and Greener Award and the Community Spirit Award. 

By introducing this new title, the Housing Executive aims to acknowledge and celebrate the vital contributions made by a community who has went 'above and beyond' to help make their village a better place to live.

This could be through developing and engaging residents in activities to encourage environmental, social and economic sustainability. 

The Rural Community Awards help improve community spirit within rural neighbourhoods. 

A total prize fund of £6,000 will be on offer, with six prizes of £1,000 being awarded to help and support those communities working to improve their respective areas. 

Within each of the three categories (cleaner and greener, rural community spirit and sustainable village of the year) there are two prizes.

One is for villages with a population of less than £1,000 and the other is for populations of 1,000-5,000. 

Awards are open to all rural neighbourhoods, however there is particular interest in activities which are inclusive and benefit tenants of Housing Executive estates. 

Siobhan McCauley, the Housing Executive’s Director of Regional Services said:

“We are delighted to introduce the Sustainable Village of the Year Award, an additional award to recognise the overall achievements of  groups who have excelled in both the Cleaner and Greener and the Community Spirit categories.

“As we enter the fourth year of the Rural Community Awards, the number of nominations across Northern Ireland continues to grow.

We look forward to hearing from rural community groups this summer and giving them the opportunity to showcase how they have helped to improve health and well-being and boost community spirit within their villages.”

To be eligible for the new award, community groups must apply for the two previous existing awards. 

They must then provide a 500 word statement, outlining how they think they have contributed to the sustainability of their village.

Some key elements would be the likes of 'reducing fuel poverty, reducing carbon footprint of the village and encouraging biodiversity. 

Deadline for the submission of applicants is 4pm on Friday July 28. 

Applications can be emailed to rural.housing@nihe.gov.uk or send to the Rural Unit, Housing Executive, the Housing Centre, 2 Adelaide Street, Belfast.