Residents of two neighbouring Armagh housing estates are taking a proactive approach and pushing pride in their local community to the fore.
And funding from the National Lottery has been the proverbial ‘game-changer’ for the good folk of Drumbreda and St Brigid’s Hill Community Association.
For a very welcome grant – to the tune of £3,248 – has allowed them to purchase equipment to ensure they can keep their neighbourhood in pristine condition!
It’s all about working together, for the good of their own community, and the results of their efforts certainly speak volumes.
Treasurer Gillian McCartney told Armagh I : “We were able to buy a big weed ripper machine, which is great. It goes along and whips out all the weeds up the sides of walls and fences and all the moss along the footpaths and kerbs. We were also able to get a push along road sweeper, a lawnmower and a strimmer out of the funding too.
“The National Lottery were very good. They gave us the whole amount we applied for and we’ve acquired all the equipment and have already been out using it.
“I have to say, the residents have been delighted with their areas that have been cleaned up.”
The community association was formed back in the 1970s and has worked over the years to make a difference, bringing people together, organising activities and taking a real ‘hands-on’ approach for the betterment of the areas in which they live.
Today, the association is driven by a hard-working committee of seven.
“There would have been a community centre way back then when the committee was formed which doesn’t exist anymore,” said Gillian. “Different volunteers have come on board through the years. As older volunteers have left, other people have stepped in to try to keep it running.”
And keep it running they certainly have.
For there is often something planned and happening or in the pipeline for locals to enjoy.
“Over this past year, we have our knitting group that runs and we had an art group going,” explained Gillian. “We had a children’s day trip to Craigavon Lakes. Last year we had our Christmas pantomime for the kids, for families that may not get to the pantomime, and we had our older residents Christmas dinner down in the Harps Social Club there on the Loughgall Road.
“We would have movie nights for the kids up in the Harps GAA Club at Abbey Park. We also had a sports come and show night for the kids, where we had a young MMA star come along with his trophies and we had pizzas ordered in. That was a great night.
“We would also run an evening tea for our residents, and then we had musicians that come along and just play their own bits of music and chat and craic, bringing the older and the younger together.
“It’s very much a community thing for that area, the same as the likes of Callanbridge, Mullacreevie and Drumarg also all have residents’ groups, and we would link in with the West Armagh Consortium, who also link across Portadown, Brownlow, Craigavon, Banbridge and that through neighbourhood renewal.
“We apply to the council and they would have given us funding for things like the dinners, the pantomime and our wee art and crafts classes for the children.
“We’re hoping to get some of the children off to the pantomime again this year and we’re hoping to do another Christmas dinner for our older residents, because a lot of them don’t get out. Last year, actually, those that couldn’t come down, we did do a few home deliveries for meals, where we brought them to the house to them, so we’re hoping to do that again.”
Estate clean-ups and litter-picks are also an important part of the day-to-day activities, which is why a National Lottery grant was applied for and secured.
To Gillian, having an active community association makes a real difference to the individual areas which they cover.
“I think it’s very important; I know all the community doesn’t get involved, but it’s important even just for the upkeep of your area,” she added.
“The council are flat out with town and that and unfortunately they often don’t have the funds or the time, the people to come into the estates. You’ll have the council deal with rubbish, they don’t deal with moss and weeds. You’ll have DfI, they’ll deal with weeds, but not moss.
“So it really is up to the communities to keep their own areas looking good and welcoming. It is all about taking pride in your community and, if you don’t have these types of groups, well then, there’s nothing happening. It just goes to ruin.”
Gillian said the Drumbreda and St Brigid’s Hill Community Association were delighted and “very lucky” to have received National Lottery funding to buy the equipment which will ensure the area is kept looking its best in the years ahead.
And she encouraged others to consider applying too and perhaps be in a position to make a difference to their own communities.
“They are there and they do give local communities grants,” said Gillian. “They want people to be aware that they’re there for funding, that that’s where people that do the lottery, this is where their money goes.”
