Volunteers making Trillick a better place to live receive honour

TIRELESS volunteers from Trillick have been honoured for making the village a better place to live.

The members of the Trillick Community Group clinched the top Cleaner and Greener award, south region, and lifted a £1,000 prize in the Housing Executive’s annual Rural Community Awards 2022.

Individuals and groups who are making a difference in rural areas receive the awards, which showcase the wide range of activities they are involved in to improve quality of life and create cleaner, safer and more vibrant places to live.

Outstanding volunteering work being carried out at grassroots level in rural areas across Northern Ireland, helping to boost civic pride among residents, is also recognised.

Group chair, Claire Donnelly said, “We are delighted to receive this prestigious award. Our main aim is to make Trillick a better place to live.

“We are involved with the local council’s Village Renewal Scheme which funded the erection of the Three Stones monument with 2020 time capsules, the Fergie Tractor Sculpture and new street furniture and planters.”

WINDOW BOXES

“Planters are maintained by our flower group, who also fill window boxes for local people, and maintain the community flower beds.

“Many residents look forward to having their window boxes replenished, and have begun to add more floral displays to their homes,” she revealed.

“We have also cleared wasteland beside Housing Executive property at Woodview Crescent, installed a polytunnel and started a very successful gardening club.

“Polyclub members learned to grow flowers and vegetables from seed, propagate plants from cuttings and make compost from garden and household waste,” she added.

Local residents also attended gardening classes organised by the group where they can get together socially for a chat, a cup of tea and courgette or carrot cake made from polytunnel produce.

“The polytunnel has proved to be a wonderful focal point for our efforts to improve the appearance of Trillick and has also given older people the chance to be socially active and combat isolation and loneliness,” Claire continued.

Helen Hicks, Housing Executive area manager for Omagh and Fermanagh, expressed a ‘big well done’ to Trillick Community Group on their well-deserved award.

“They are to be commended for their outstanding volunteering work in the area,” she said.