Northern Ireland Community Relations Council - About Us - News - Housing Executive Announces Winners of the 2011 Good Relations Projects Awards

07 June 2011

The Housing Executive and members of the Housing Community Network celebrated the recent 2011 Community Relations Week by hosting an event to promote Good Relations and to mark the achievements of five community groups across Northern Ireland.

Each of the 5 winning groups will receive an award of £2,000 and the Good Relations Awards scheme is funded jointly by the Housing Executive and the Community Relations Council. The awards were designed to provide community groups with the opportunity to practically bring to life the principles of the Housing Executive’s Good Relations policy.

Brian Rowntree, Chairman of the Housing Executive said:

“A lot of excellent work is being done by our community groups and we hope that these awards will contribute to making a real difference on the ground by increasing respect for diversity and develop relationships between and within communities. The Housing Executive is delighted to be able to highlight good practice and to support those who work tirelessly to improve community relations and cohesion within their communities. The presentations from previous winners are inspirational and show how even a small grant can reap huge rewards”

Commenting at the awards ceremony, Brian Holmes Director of Supporting Communities NI said:

“Community Groups warmly welcomed the 2011 Good Relations Awards and in this 5th year of operation we received the highest number of applications yet. The judging panel was very impressed by the commitment shown by volunteers to deliver Good Relations projects”.

The Awards are their winners are:

Play Learn and Grow Together Project was awarded to Annadale and Haywood Residents Association

Multi-Cultural Drama Programme was awarded to Ballyhornan Youth Centre

The Building Positive Minds Project was awarded to Roe Valley Residents Association

The Polish Handshake was awarded to Windmill and Minorca Drive Residents Association

Celebratory Events re: A Shared Neighbourhood was awarded to Lissize Community Association.

END

Notes to Editors

This is the 5th year of the Good Relations Awards which is jointly funded by the Housing Executive and Community Relations Council.

Applicants for the awards needed to demonstrate within their application how their project meets any of the following key objectives:

- Contributes to good community relations, community safety and pride.

- Develops relationships within and between communities.

- Increases community awareness of and promotes good relations.

- Increases respect for difference and diversity.

- Provides greater understanding of other cultures.