Ulster Bank Sir George Quigley Award

Ozanam House is a recently refurbished community centre located in the heart of Dublin’s north inner city, operating under the auspices of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. The Centre offers various educational, community and childcare programmes aimed at countering aspects of social exclusion in the community.

The funding of €7,320 will go towards the purchase of necessary cookery equipment to develop their Healthy Options Centre, including a cookery / catering room. In this way, the Centre hopes to provide classes and courses aimed at promoting healthy eating and living habits for all the people of the community.

Presenting the award in Dublin, Ulster Bank Group Chairman, Dr Alan Gillespie said:

Noreen Kearney, Trustee of The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, which administers the Fund congratulated the Ozanam House Resource Centre saying: “We get many applications for the Ulster Bank Sir George Quigley Award from many groups; all of whom make a significant difference in one way or another, and it is very difficult to choose between them. Ozanam House Resource Centre stood out as an innovative scheme, which will provide an important service in a deserving area of Dublin and which will ultimately help the local community in a very tangible way.”

The Dungiven Community Resource Centre in Derry was this year’s runner-up. Established in 1989 in response to the levels of social and economic disadvantage in the area, their aim is to improve the quality of life for the residents in their area through the provision of educational and advice services. The award of £1,250 will provide funding towards English classes for the growing group of Polish workers who have settled in the area.

www.communityfoundationni.org