Council Chair hosts reception for Live Here Love Here Community Awards Prizewinners

Recently the Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor Thomas O’Reilly, hosted a reception for the Live Here Live Here Community Awards prizewinners from the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area.

The following is the speech made by the Chair at the event:

Good morning Councillors, ladies and gentlemen

As Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, I am delighted to welcome you all to The Grange, Omagh for this reception for the Live Here Love Here Community Awards prizewinners.

I would like to extend a particularly warm welcome to the representatives from Dromore Health and Wellbeing Group and the Sow and Grow Project and Patrick Hosey from Strathroy Community Centre.

The Live Here Love Here awards promote civic pride and encourage communities to take action to improve their local area and the environment.  The awards recognise individuals and groups who have shown exceptional commitment to achieve this.

I am delighted that Fermanagh and Omagh had three prizewinners at the event held earlier this year.  Dromore Health and Wellbeing Group were awarded the Fermanagh and Omagh Champion Award with Patrick Hosey from Strathroy Community Centre being awarded Runner-Up.  The Sow and Grow Project based at the Ulster American Folk Park were awarded Runner Up in the Community Together Award.

Through the various projects and initiatives you have delivered in your localities, you have demonstrated the ethos of the awards to a high standard and improved those same local spaces for the betterment of all.

The Council is committed to ensuring that the outstanding and culturally rich environment, so evident throughout our district, is cherished, sustainably managed and accessible.  To achieve this the Council has an extensive programme of Street Cleansing and Grounds Maintenance to ensure our towns and villages are clean and welcoming.

The Council actively encourages residents to sign up to the Litter Champion Scheme and Live Here Love Here’s ‘Adopt A Spot’ initiative – we applaud the hundreds who have already done so but we need many more to answer the call.

I cannot overstate the importance of the work that each of you do – be that collectively through your community groups or individually across this beautiful District. Your efforts exemplify that ethos of volunteerism that we all aspire to and you inspire us all to do better and do more.

As Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, and in a personal capacity, I would like to congratulate you all on your well-deserved awards and thank you for your ongoing work and commitment to enhance your areas for the benefit of residents and visitors alike.  You are all champions an inspiration and it seems fitting to finish by echoing the words of David Attenborough…”the next chapter is ours to write. We know what we need to do. What happens next is up to us”.

I hope others in our community and across our District follow your example to take action, to protect the environment and make our District a great place to live, work, visit and invest in.

An ancient Chinese philosopher, Lao-zi, once wrote that “a journey of a thousand miles, starts with a single step”. That was never truer than when we are talking about climate action, the environment and biodiversity. By following in your footsteps, making small changes and taking small actions, working together we will create an irresistible force and make a tangible and lasting difference.