Tidy Randalstown: NI community group tidies up at prestigious awards

Tidy Randalstown was presented with the Legacy Award by Live Here Love Here at its 2024 Community Awards.

Northern Ireland’s people-powered campaign dedicated to promoting civic pride and fostering environmental stewardship recognised the Co Antrim group for their passion and commitment, with DAERA minister Andrew Muir calling their example ‘inspirational’.

“For us the community aspect has become the key, the most important thing to us, the environment and looking after the various plants and so on is really the vehicle for that to build that community cohesion,” explains Helen Boyd, chairperson of Tidy Randalstown.

“When we started it was really difficult and we’re always very keen to try to encourage other groups that you have to walk before you run — and not to set expectations too high.”

Tidy Randalstown has been in operation for 13 years — ‘I cannot believe where the time has gone’ laughs Helen — and was founded as a grassroots initiative aimed at “tidying up the town” for the benefit of local residents.

Starting as litter pickers — ‘you need to be a little bit brave about going out with litter pickers 13 years ago, it wasn’t that common a thing’ — their efforts became a regular occurrence, then broadening out to other endeavours.

Over the period of a year, the organisation would have in excess of 70 people involved with approximately 47 registered volunteers, in which lies a core team of 25.

They contribute their time on a weekly basis to maintain six community gardens, planting schemes and numerous other environmental projects.

“We used to be quite reactive — we saw something that wasn’t right and we went to try to improve it. But now we’re proactive and we would have a set Monday and Wednesday every week to go out and in every week we would have about 25 different people doing various tasks and working together in Randalstown,” explains Helen.

Community cohesion is vital for Tidy Randalstown, its volunteers becoming ‘a magnet’ for people to stop and enquire about what they are doing.

“We made a point of never asking if people stopped for a chat, we never said would you like to come and join us,” says Helen.

“We just tried to make sure that they their confidence in us grew and as that happened and people observed, somebody might tap one of our volunteers on the shoulder and say I’d really like to join you.

“We’re not homogeneous in any way, we’re a whole cross-section of the community from younger children out with their parents or their grandmother right through the ages.”

Tidy Randalstown also works with local schools and the community police. The combination of all these efforts have been powerful, says Helen, as is the tangibility of the group’s work.

Their work benefits not just the environment but people’s mental health too with projects an opportunity to get out and meet others.

“The difference that it makes to people’s lives is just unbelievable,” says Helen.

“I think there’s a real legacy there for the future because what we’re doing is being observed by others and that’s how civic pride builds up.”

Its goal is to make Randalstown a cleaner, greener and more connected community and to remind people of the positive impact volunteering initiatives can have on our environment and society.

And while winning awards is important, and an honour, it’s not the reason for the organisation’s existence.

“We were very, very fortunate to receive the Legacy award from Live Here Love Here,” says Helen.

“We see that as an amazing achievement and a really important recognition for Tidy Randalstown because it highlights our long-standing commitment. It’s very hard to keep something on the road as it were for X number of years. But we have managed to do that and enjoy doing it.

“The environmental causes that we have addressed and the community service that we have given has really fed into the awards, and then people feel good about themselves.

“If they can say, our town got this award or our town got another specific award and they would even stop us from the street and say isn’t it great that the town won this.

“They’re taking ownership of the awards and that’s really what we want them to do. It’s life-changing, it really is life-changing.”

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Live Here Love Here. Its annual Community Awards showcase the diverse efforts taking part across the province and the real difference communities and individuals can make to their local environments.

Helen also credits the feel-good factor that awards bring — including the Britain in Bloom and Best Kept Ireland honours for Tidy Randalstown.

“I’ve never worked out the average age of our group. But I have a guarantee it’s around about 66-67 and some of us are a little bit older than that. It’s good that everybody can feel good, absolutely.”

Equally, Tidy Randalstown is keen to pass on any help or support to other groups who are just getting started.

“We try to help other towns and the point I’m really trying to make is that these community awards, they really showcase the diverse efforts taking place right across the province and the real difference that communities and individuals can make to their local environment,” says Helen.

“And once people begin to believe that they can do it, then it begins to grow and grow in the most amazing way and success breeds success.

“We’re willing to support people who would like to come along and see Randalstown and talk to us about how we got started and how we’ve developed and we’re very much into spreading the word; that’s where our tie-in with Live Here Love Here is very important to us.

“It is amazing to have Live Here Love Here in Northern Ireland and giving as many people as possible the opportunity to have that support. They have helped us with health and safety training and we’re into that and any group that’s starting needs to make sure that everyone that is working for them is safe wherever they are in their town.”

Follow Tidy Randalstown on Facebook. For more information on Live Here Love Here, see www.liveherelovehere.org