National Lottery announces the 36 finalists for the National Lottery Good Causes Awards

Ireland’s only children’s hospice, a rehabilitation service for adults living with acquired brain injuries, an archive celebrating local LGBT history, a GAA club helping their community through the Covid pandemic and a rural community support service providing vital youth counselling, are amongst the thirty-six community groups, sports clubs and organisations from all over Ireland who were today announced as finalists in the National Lottery Good Causes Awards.

The Awards honour the inspiring work and achievements of thousands of projects, clubs and individuals from all over Ireland who, with the help of National Lottery Good Causes funding, have had an extraordinary impact on their local communities. Nearly 30 cent in every €1 spent on National Lottery games goes back to Good Causes all over the country.

The 36 winning groups will now proceed to the grand final in six categories: Sport, Health & Wellbeing, Heritage, Arts & Culture, Community and Youth. A seventh category, Irish Language, will have a special award to be announced at the Awards final, in recognition of outstanding work done in the promotion of the Irish Language.

Speaking at the announcement, the CEO of the National Lottery, Andrew Algeo, congratulated the 36 finalists who have reached this final stage of the awards process.

He said: “The Good Causes Awards allow us to shine a light on the outstanding work being done in our communities by extraordinary groups. Our aim is to recognize the exceptional contributions of our finalists and show the people of Ireland exactly what their participation and support in the National Lottery is achieving within their communities. We are all aware of how difficult the past year has been and how important sports clubs, organisations and groups are to our wellbeing. This truly is our chance to show our appreciation for keeping our communities going during such uncertain times.”

The judging of the National Finals of the Good Causes Awards will take place virtually this year on Tuesday 16th & Wednesday 17th February. At this stage, representatives from each of the 36 finalist groups will be asked to do a short presentation remotely to the judging panel and respond to any questions that may arise. The judging panel will be chaired by Lotto presenter & weather presenter, Nuala Carey. Fergus Finlay, Columnist and Author, will join the panel as an independent judge at this stage.

Fergus Finlay spoke candidly about his involvement with the Good Causes Awards: “It is such an honour to be involved in the Good Causes Awards as the event really is a unique opportunity to highlight the array of remarkable groups and organisations doing great things in communities all over the country. I am looking forward to meeting the 36 finalists and hearing about the inspirational work that they have continued to do – even during Covid times. It feels even more heartening to be involved considering the difficulties that have been faced by so many during the past year.”

The 36 finalists include: Laura Lynn Ireland’s Children’s Hospice, Headway Limerick, Cork LGBT Archive, Daingean GAA and Millennium Family Resource Centre. *see full list below

Each national category winner will receive €10,000 while the overall Good Cause of the Year will get an additional €25,000 on top of this. The winners will be announced on Saturday 29th May at the Mansion House in Dublin (subject to Public health measures in place at the time). The event will alternatively take place virtually depending on the guidelines in effect.

The 36 National Lottery Good Causes Awards finalists are below. More information on the finalists and the National Lottery Good Causes Awards can be found at www.lottery.ie/good-causes-awards/finalists

 

Sport

  • Shankill Tennis Club, Dublin
  • South Dublin Taekwondo, Dublin
  • Raphoe Community Sports Development, Donegal
  • Kanturk Cycling Club, Cork
  • Ratoath Athletics Club, Meath
  • Ballintubber GAA, Mayo

 

Health & Wellbeing

  • Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Dublin
  • LauraLynn Ireland’s Children’s Hospice, Dublin
  • Children in Hospital Ireland, Dublin
  • Lough Ree Lanesborough Angling Hub, Roscommon
  • Naas Community First Responders, Kildare
  • East Galway & Midlands Cancer Support, Galway

 

Heritage

  • Letterkenny Cathedral Quarter, Donegal
  • Cork Folklore Project, Cork
  • Cork LGBT Archive, Cork
  • Kilkenny Famine Experience, Kilkenny
  • Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland, Meath
  • Irish Peatland Conservation Council, Kildare

 

Arts & Culture

  • Children’s Books Ireland, Dublin
  • International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, Dublin
  • Dance Theatre of Ireland, Dublin
  • Graffiti Theatre Company, Cork
  • Cyclone Rep, Cork
  • Baboró International Arts Festival for Children, Galway

 

Community

  • Age Action Ireland, Dublin
  • Immigrant Council of Ireland, Dublin
  • Kilbarrack Coast Community Project, Dublin
  • Irish Deaf Society, Dublin
  • Daingean GAA, Offaly
  • Headway Limerick, Limerick

 

Youth

  • Focus Ireland, Dublin
  • BeLonG To Youth Services, Dublin
  • Millennium Family Resource Centre, Tipperary
  • Autism Support Louth & Meath, Louth
  • The Irish Pilgrimage Trust, Galway
  • Blue Box Creative Learning Centre, Limerick

 

Nearly 30 cent in every €1 spent on all National Lottery games goes back to Good Causes in the areas of sport, youth, health, welfare, education, arts, heritage and the Irish Language. In total more than €5.8 Billion has been raised for Good Causes since the National Lottery was established 33 years ago. In 2020 alone, €254 million was raised for local Good Causes in communities across Ireland.