Live Here Love Here, Northern Ireland’s largest community and civic pride campaign, is inviting people to take part in their Connecting Communities roadshow. The series of local events – including a stop in Belfast at 4 Royal Avenue on Thursday July 3 from 12-2pm – will show people how to get involved in local environmental activity so they can play their part and make a difference.
Since June 5, events have been taking place and will continue across ten partner council areas in Northern Ireland. Each will encourage local people, community groups and organisations such as clubs and schools, to get involved in their communities through various Live Here Love Here programmes such as the Big Spring Clean, Adopt a Spot and Healthy Oceans, Healthy Minds.
Attendees can also learn about the Green Flag Community Award – the national award recognising green spaces managed by voluntary and community groups. Practical activities and demonstrations are also on the agenda including seed swaps, growing workshops and climate awareness workshops facilitated by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.
The ten councils taking part are Antrim & Newtownabbey, Ards & North Down, Armagh, Banbridge & Craigavon, Belfast City, Fermanagh & Omagh, Lisburn & Castlereagh, Mid & East Antrim, Mid Ulster, and Newry, Mourne & Down, with events taking place between June and August.
Lynda Surgenor, Manager at Live Here Love Here, said, “We’re excited to return with our Connecting Communities events to help people take positive action for the environment in their local area. These events are an important way for us to showcase the impact already being made in communities through the Live Here Love Here campaign and inspire others to get involved to make a lasting difference for the environment.
“Every year thousands of local volunteers show out in force year-on-year in our parks, our beaches, and our towns and villages to take responsibility for the environment they live in and love. However, with the environment presenting new and complex challenges, it’s crucial we mobilise as many people as we can to become environmental stewards and create cleaner, greener and safer places to live.”
One of Live Here Love Here’s most successful programmes is its Small Grants Scheme – soon to launch for 2025. Run in partnership with local councils and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, the Scheme offers funding to successful applicants with ideas to improve their local areas. Now entering its eleventh year, over £1 million has been awarded to hundreds of community-led improvement projects to date.
One such project is Half Moon Lake Men’s Shed in Belfast, which was awarded a grant for ten volunteers to revitalise a waste area, by landscaping using native plants and flowers to create a welcoming green space for visitors – a project that took over 200 hours to complete.
Lynda concluded, “We’re determined to strengthen the Live Here Love Here campaign in 2025, by communicating the wider benefits environmental stewardship can bring. Getting out in the great outdoors and engaging in light physical activity such as a litter-pick or planting can improve our mood and reduce stress. Volunteering also brings people together from different backgrounds and helps forge a sense of belonging by connecting neighbours which in turns builds stronger, more resilient communities. And we must never overlook the educational benefits either, particularly for young people who will go to share this knowledge with future generations.”
There will be opportunities to connect with exhibitors like Volunteer Now, True Harvest Seeds and Ulster GAA for additional insights and ways to get involved. There’ll also be a chance for attendees to win a luxury local hotel stay.
Live Here Love Here is a partnership campaign funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, ten local councils and the Housing Executive. The campaign is managed by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.
For details on upcoming Connecting Communities events and to book your space visit liveherelovehere.org
