Ballina has been announced as the second ‘Sound Town’ winner of 2020, following incredible work carried out by the community to bring positive change to the town.
Since it was established last year by local Cllr Mark Duffy, the ‘Beelieve in Ballina’ group has gained quite a following of supporters and volunteers for its weekly Saturday morning gatherings, where participants clear litter and conduct a general tidy up of local areas in the community.
The weekly patrols, which take place every Saturday morning from 8am to 9am take the form of a fun, social walkabout, with more than 100 volunteers of all ages participating over the last year.
As the number of volunteers grew, so too did the public imagination. What started off as a weekly clean up, grew to the restoration of local walking trails, establishing a public wildflower route and the creation of the ‘Twin Bees’ bug hotel which has become a popular educational resource on biodiversity for local children.
The initiative has gone from strength to strength over the last year, and the group even hosted their own festival, ‘Spraoi in the Ree’ where local heroes Buck Taylor and Mick D entertained the crowd after a fun-filled boxty making competition and dodgeball event.
Commenting on the announcement of Ballina winning the Sound Town award, Today FM’s Alison Curtis said: "The incredible work and community spirit demonstrated by the people of Ballina symbolises everything that’s great about Irish communities.
"The selfless act of giving up your Saturday morning in order to tidy up your community truly shows the passion and pride of place that the people of Ballina possess. Irish communities are at their best when they come together in search of a common goal and their wonderful solidarity and sense of togetherness is inspiring. We are delighted to present the people of Ballina with the second Sound Town award of the year.”
