Two county Armagh groups successful at the annual Pride of Place Awards Ceremony on Saturday will be celebrated at a special civic reception at the Palace Demesne.
Keady Community, Cultural and Festival Group, took runner up place in category four which is for areas with populations of between 2,000 and 5,000 while Richmount Rural Community Association, Portadown took runner up place in category eight, which is for Communities Reaching Out Initiatives.
The groups were commended at last night’s council meeting.
Councillor Darren McNally, resident of Keady, recommended the town’s Cultural and Festival Group for special recognition in which the Lord Mayor said he would host all three groups that entered the Awards.
The winners of the Pride of Place awards, known affectionately by many as the ‘Community Oscars’, were announced at the special gala event in Belfast Waterfront Hall in front of an audience of approximately 1000 guests and VIPs with many more people tuning in on-line to watch the live broadcast of the ceremony.
Now in its 14 year, the all-island Pride of Place Awards promotes and celebrates the best in community development and recognises the selfless efforts of people in making their neighbourhoods better places to live, work and socialise. This year, a broad spectrum of groups were nominated, ranging from small rural communities to inner city housing estates.
Pictured at the Pride of Place Awards ceremony are representatives from Richmount Rural Community Association, Co Armagh along with Dr Christopher Moran, Chairman Co-operation Ireland, Tom Dowling, Chairman of the Pride of Place Committee and George Jones, Chairman IPB
The Pride of Place Awards are divided into three awards sections – the main, the cities and the special awards and during the evening a total of 53 awards were announced by TV personality Claire McCollum. The awards ceremony was hosted by Belfast City Council, with the Belfast School of Music, Streetwise Community Circus, Belfast Community Gospel Choir and The James Peak Experience providing the entertainment.
The winners were presented with their awards by Lord Mayor of Belfast Alderman Brian Kingston, Councillor Matt Garrett, Chairperson of Belfast City Council’s People and Communities Committee, Dr. Christopher Moran, Chairman Co-operation Ireland, Tom Dowling Chairman of the Pride of Place Committee and George Jones, Chairman of IPB, the event sponsors.
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