Winner: Latton & Bawn, Co. Monaghan

Summary

The Latton Bawn area comprises of many fiercely committed volunteers. Latton Social Services (LSS) started out over twenty years ago by training local volunteers to carry out a door to door needs survey in the area. This uncovered a range of needs, which the group has been slowly working to address ever since. Other notable firsts were the county’s first rural transport scheme, the BALTI Bus, and providing a base for a county-wide network of community groups, Monaghan Community Network. LSS deals with all age groups, and traditions and has sourced millions in funding for projects ranging from childcare, transport, even a peace and reconciliation project which covered twelve border counties. This very rural corner of Co Monaghan wrote the book on community development and continues to innovate and lead by example today.

Community Contact: Alice Forde [email protected]

Citation

The Category Winning entry is a long established rural community that has made significant incremental improvements over the last twenty years. Successes include a model rural transport scheme, a peace and reconciliation project, high quality community facilities and an extensive child care facility. The whole community turned out on the day of the judges’ visit, in a carnival atmosphere, taking great and justifiable pride in their achievements and exhibiting a wonderful community spirit.

Runners Up: Ballymacoda / Ladysbridge, Co. Cork and Victoria Bridge Village, Co. Tyrone