Dromore in Co Down, Enniskillen in Co Fermanagh and Newry City are among the finalists announced for Bank of Ireland’s Begin Together Awards 2020.
The new award scheme is available for the first time in Northern Ireland and recognise business and community groups who have come together to support their local area as they start to rebuild and recover from the impact of Covid-19.
A total awards prize fund of over £180,000 is available to finalists to help reboot local economies across the island of Ireland.
21 awards are involved with the overall winner receiving £45,000 and the title of Ireland’s ‘Most Enterprising Town’. There is also a prize of £18,000 for the winner of the ‘Rising Star’ award.
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Three special Covid--response awards have also been introduced:
• Local Town Promotion Initiative - A marketing or promotional campaign designed to help kick-start the local economy.
• Local Community Enterprise Initiative - A local enterprise initiative established specifically to ease the impact of COVID-19, or one that has repurposed itself during the pandemic.
• Local Business and Community Response Initiative - A joint initiative by local businesses and the community to manage the impact of COVID-19 through lockdown and beyond as towns start to reopen.
Dromore, Enniskillen and Newry will be competing with towns from across the island of Ireland.
The judging panel will review all finalists this month and the winners will be announced in October. The initiative is being fast-tracked to provide funding to winning towns in October in order to directly assist their Covid-19 recovery.
Gavin Kennedy, head of business banking (NI) at Bank of Ireland UK, said: “The high quality and number of entries received truly reflects the resilience and enterprising spirit of towns across Northern Ireland and made it an unenviable task for the judges.
“I would like to wish Dromore, Enniskillen and Newry the very best of luck in the competition.”
The Begin Together Awards fund is part of a wider £910,000 Bank of Ireland support for local enterprise and community groups this year.
Source: Written from press release
