Tipp winners in Lottery Good Cause Awards
Cloughjordan Circus Club, Cahir GAA Club and North Tipperary Community Services are the three Tipperary clubs and organisations announced as county winners in the National Lottery Good Causes Awards 2022.
The awards were created to honour and showcase the inspiring work being carried out by thousands of projects, clubs and individuals in their local communities across Ireland thanks to National Lottery Good Causes funding. Nearly 30 cent of every euro spent on National Lottery games goes back to Good Causes all over the country.
Announcing the County winners, National Lottery CEO, Andrew Algeo, said: “The stories and insights that we read in this year’s entries truly exemplified the positive impact that the groups, sports clubs and organisations who receive National Lottery funding, are having in towns and villages all over Ireland. Celebrating the inspirational work being carried out by these extraordinary beneficiaries and recognising the effect that they have on their communities is exactly what the Good Causes Awards are all about.”
The National Lottery CEO went on to describe how significantly more individuals, charities, groups, projects and organisations all over Ireland could benefit from Good Causes funding if a ban on lottery betting were to be introduced.
“Our ambition is to do more for communities all over Ireland and we hope that soon, this will become a reality. If the practice of betting on lottery games were to be finally banned in Ireland, as it is in most EU countries, our research shows that National Lottery sales would increase by at least €228 million which would result in approximately €63 million in additional funding for the Good Causes fund which would have a huge impact on communities all over Ireland. Last year, Benefacts established that 34% of all charitable giving in Ireland in 2021 was attributable via the National Lottery. We believe that even more charitable and community groups would directly benefit if a ban on lottery betting was put in place.”
The Tipperary winners are:
• Cloughjordan Circus Club – Arts & Culture
Cloughjordan Circus Club run a year-round programme of weekly circus workshops, which include juggling, hula hoop, stilt walking, unicycle and tightwire, for children and young people aged 8–25 years old. Good Causes funding received through the Arts Council was originally intended to go towards a performance project which would be presented at the club’s 10th anniversary. Due to Covid, the funding was used elsewhere to bring the workshops online and to reimagine the performance piece, which uses circus and puppetry, as a film.
• Cahir GAA Club – Sport
Cahir GAA Club has approximately 500 members and their facilities cater for between 40 – 50 teams in hurling, football, camogie and Ladies football from U5 to Senior level. Good Causes funding through the Sports Capital Programme enabled the club to install flood lighting at their GAA pitch at Duneske, which has proven to be hugely beneficial during the late autumn, winter and early spring months. It has also given their members a space to exercise all year round, which helps with both their physical and mental health.
• North Tipperary Community Services – Community
Silver Arch FRC provide a range of community-based support services for families living in disadvantaged areas in North Tipperary. In 2019 Silver Arch FRC were successful in securing a HSE National Lottery grant to run North Tipperary Mental Health week which raised awareness about positive mental health and included a number of events which ran on Mental Health Day. Over the past three years, the event has grown and in 2021 the organisation joined with South Tipperary Mental Health committee to run an all-county week-long festival which combined both online and limited person events due to the Covid-19 restrictions in place.
Entrepreneur, Fashion Designer and Businesswoman, Sonya Lennon, who is chairperson of this year’s judging panel, spoke about the tough job that the panel faced in narrowing down the entries.
“This is my first year involved in the Good Causes Awards and it’s really opened my eyes to the crucial work that so many extraordinary groups and individuals carry out within their communities each and every day. It was no easy feat to select our 118 county winners out of the hundreds of entries that we received as every application had an inspiring story. A big congratulations to all who have made it to the next round – we are one step closer to the big night now!”
The awards, which culminate in a Gala Awards Dinner in Kildare on Saturday, October 1, have seven main categories: Sport, Health & Wellbeing, Heritage, Arts & Culture, Community, Youth and Irish Language.