On Thursday 23rd June the winners of the 2022 Intel Pride of Place competition were revealed at an awards ceremony which took place in Castletown House, Celbridge.
The Pride of Place competition invites community organisations located in Leixlip, Celbridge and Maynooth, to share their project ideas to help improve their organisations whilst also benefiting the local community.
The project ideas are then reviewed by a panel of judges, made up of business professionals and community representatives, who selected a number of the submissions to receive grants as part of the initiative which is funded by Intel.
This is the 8th year of the Pride of Place competition and once again there was a fantastic response from community groups in the local area with a large number of diverse project ideas being submitted.
This year 7 different local projects were selected to receive funding as part of the competition. A total of €33,000 was distributed amongst the winning projects.
An awards evening took place in the Hunting Room of Castletown House, Celbridge to reveal the winners of the awards. This was a particularly special event as it was the first time that the winning projects have been announced in person since 2019. Guests were treated to some light refreshments as well as a performance from previous Pride of Place winners St. Mary’s Brass and Reed band.
Presenting the awards to the winning projects were Naoise Ó Cearúil, Mayor of Kildare, and the Pride of Place 2022 judging panel which included Rebecca Doolin, Director of External Relations at Maynooth University, Michelle Lee, Head of Technical at General
Paints Group who are based in the Celbridge famine workhouse since 1953 and Lisa
Harlow, External Relations Manager at Intel.
The winners of the 2022 competition are as follows;
2022 Pride of Place winners - Ann Menton,Colette Lenorad Paula Dagg from Cedar Park Residents Association
2022 Pride of Place winners Gerry Keane, TonyO'Sullivan, Celia Coleman and Paul Gartland from Leixlip Tidy Towns
2022 Pride of Place winners Brid Keely, Orla Murphy, Liz Wynne from Confey College Parents Association
2022 Pride of Place winners Sean Tracey, Miriam O'Keeffe Ahern, Angie Tracey and Dr Mike Ahern from Maynooth Access Group
2022 Pride of Place winners Mary McDowell, Guilherme Urban, Mateus Urban, Noreen Cronin from Leixlip Educate Together
2022 Pride of Place winners Ena Fitzpatrick, Eamon Burke, David Hussey and Bea O'Connell from Abbey Art group
2022 Pride of Place winners Eamon Shields and Margaret Daly from Confey GAA
Leixlip Educate Together National School - €5,000
The Pride of Place award will go towards the installation of an outdoor learning area that will include a biodiverse garden, a sensory garden and an outdoor classroom on the school grounds. The biodiverse learning area include planted areas that will attract a range of wildlife such as birds, butterflies, bees and other bugs as well as environmentally friendly seating.
Maynooth Access Group - €5,000
The classroom setting is the perfect forum in which to teach children, humility, humanity and open-mindedness in working, learning, communicating and playing with children with disabilities. It’s no secret that children learn best through play, and learning about disabilities is no exception. The Pride of Place grant will help towards the “Our World” disability awareness pilot programme which aims at children and consists of a collection of toys with disabilities, child-centred-age-appropriate books about various disabilities, posters and puzzles.
Leixlip Tidy Towns- €5,000
The grant will enable the implementation of a recommendation of the Leixlip Biodiversity Action Plan - the banks on either side of the Mass Steps need manual weed clearance and planting with a mix of shrubs and herbaceous perennials that will give good ground cover, thus leaving no room for ‘weeds’. This will be the first BAP recommendation to the implemented and will build experience to implement others.
Confey College Parents' Association - €5,000
Confey College in Leixlip has recently opened an ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) classroom to cater for students on the Autism Spectrum. The Pride of Place grant will provide a sensory room which will be hugely beneficial to students in the ASD class. A sensory room is a therapeutic space with a variety of equipment that provides students with special needs with personalised sensory input—the room helps these children calm and focus themselves so they can be better prepared for learning and interacting with others.
Cedar Park Residents Association - €3,000
The Pride of Place grant will help to create a community space for the residents of Cedar Park in Leixlip. A space where all ages can enjoy the extensive green space in the estate that is next to the three national schools and St. Mary's GAA Club. With a renewed awareness of the local environment during COVID, it is the Association’s ambition through thoughtful planting to create a garden that will attract bees, butterflies, birds and we will contribute to providing a habitat for biodiversity and a special area for all to enjoy.
Confey GAA - €5,000
Confey GAA in Leixlip intend constructing a ball wall on the club grounds. The ball wall will offer additional training facilities for teams. It will also offer an opportunity for players to train on their own or in small groups, outside regular training times. It will give players an opportunity to improve their skills and they hope it will encourage new players to come join teams.
Abbey Art Group Celbridge - €5,000
The Pride of Place grant will help the Abbey Art Group in Celbridge to publish an A4 hard back, full colour, glossy paged book depicting members' artworks with accompanying text, representing historical and natural aspects of our locality and community. The book showcases the diverse talent within the group and its publication is a celebration not only of the work of the contributing artists but also of the community and locality in which they live and which provides them with such rich inspiration.
Speaking at the event Lisa Harlow, External Relations Manager Intel Ireland said “Intel is very proud to call North Kildare our home and to have the chance to support the wonderful work of our surrounding communities. The organisations recognised in this year’s awards are the backbone of our local communities and we are delighted to help make possible their creative range of project ideas. I would like to congratulate the winning groups and I would also like to acknowledge the time and effort that all participants have put into their Intel Pride of Place applications, demonstrating such strong commitment to their local areas.”
Since the Pride of Place competition began in 2014, some 67 community projects have been supported with over €268,000 of funding. The 2022 winning projects will now be completed over the coming months by the recipient organisations.
Additional information about Intel is available at:
Web – intel.ie | Twitter – @Intel_IRL | Facebook – Intel Ireland
Media contact: Sarah Sexton | sarah.sexton@intel.com | + 353 1 606 8537