by Skibbereen Tidy Towns
Since our newsletter has been quiet over the past number of months (emmm, 6 for anyone who’s counting) you would be forgiven for thinking that the Tidy Towns group has gone into hibernation. Truth is we have been incredibly busy over the autumn and winter months with literally no time to write other than short posts on our social media accounts, Facebook and Twitter. So, what have we been up to, we hear you ask? Well, here are some of the highlights thanks to a dedicated bunch of volunteers, partners and supporters:
In August, to celebrate National Heritage Week we participated in the annual ‘Caring for Lough Hyne’ litter pick in conjunction with our friends at Skibbereen Heritage Centre. This beautiful spot is a pride of place for locals and visitors alike and is regularly patrolled for litter. Keep up the good work folks, you know who you are.
During August and September we were delighted to showcase Skibbereen for the Bank of Ireland sponsored National Enterprise Town Awards. It was quite an experience since a diverse range of categories was included and we put on a good show for the judges and invited audience on 12 September. Thanks must go to the West Cork hotel for providing us with the conference room and refreshments, Thornhill Electrical for their generous support and Dave Long Coach Travel for the bus and driver to ferry the judges to selected locations around the town. Our guest presenters at the event enchanted the audience with a variety of experiences: Kevin Buckley from Spearline, Adrienne Harrington from the Ludgate Hub, Philip O’Regan from Skibbereen Heritage Centre and Edvinas Tolocka (more popularly known in Skibbereen as Eddie) from E-PC. A special mention also to John Field for acting as unofficial tour guide, Ann Davoren for the meeting room facility at the Uilinn West Cork Arts Centre for the wrap up session, and Roisín Dwyer for leading the video production effort for the event.
The big day in the annual Tidy Towns calendar arrived on 30 September when we travelled by invitation to the Helix in Dublin for the annual Tidy Towns national competition awards. This year we were joined en route by members of West Cork medal winning Tidy Towns groups from Rosscarbery, Lislevane, Timoleague and Kilbrittain with top of the range transport from Dave Long Coach Travel. It was a nail biting event (not the journey, Damien O’Driscoll looked after us very well) but the moment of truth came when Skibbereen was not called out on the list of bronze medal winners. After four bronze medals in a row could this be Skibbereen’s year for a silver medal? Yes, it finally was, and all the hard work by volunteers, CE scheme partners and supporters was rewarded. The silver medal, pictured here, was collected at an event hosted by the regional winners, Ennis Tidy Towns, in December.
October was largely spent reviewing the adjudicator’s report and identifying areas of opportunity to focus on for 2020. Examples include: a clean up of the graveyard at the bottom of Chapel Lane, surveying the wildlife in the newly established habitats (well, not new exactly but you get the idea), a survey of waste being sent to landfill, continuing our efforts to discourage use of herbicides by anyone engaged in this practice for the purposes of weedkilling. Watch out for more on these in the coming months.
Also from October, we participated in the SECAD led community training events that are on-going through Spring 2020. We are currently seeking your support for the future of your town by sharing your ideas through a survey. Please click here to access and it only takes 5 minutes to complete. The survey remains open until Thursday, 6 February, 2020.
Finally for October, Skibbereen Walks was awarded second place in the eco friendly category of the Muintir na Tire Pride in our Community awards for 2019. Derrine Dwyer, who earlier in the year did a skydive to raise funds for Skibbereen Tidy Towns, was on hand to attend the event in Ballincollig and accept the award.
The November highlight was the 2019 Floral Display Awards prizegiving in the Eldon hotel, returning after a gap of many years. Prizes were awarded to 16 worthy recipients across 6 categories ably judged in the summer by our friends from Rosscarbery Tidy Towns:
– Best presented business
– Best business floral display
– Best presented private residence
– Best residential floral display
– Best residential estate
– Best residential street
At the organisation’s annual general meeting on 14 November Jerome Dwyer and Francis Hunt were reelected as Chair and PRO respectively. John Hamilton was elected as treasurer. Sandra Flynn and Susan Boland agreed to act as joint secretaries for the year ahead. Many thanks to the outgoing officers for their hardworking efforts in recent years.
Also in November, we received confirmation through our partners at Cork Nature Network of partial grant funding for a joint community biodiversity plan for Skibbereen. We are very excited about this project and the opportunity it affords with workshops on nature and biodiversity being planned for March. Have a look at the Wild about Ennis initiative for an idea of what it is all about and we’ll provide more updates on our social media channels during February.
Finally in November, we were delighted to partner with tríocha páistí as Gaelscoil Dr. Uí Shúilleabháin to pick litter from the nearby playground and courts. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.
To wrap up this newsletter, as the saying goes ‘a picture tells a thousand words’ here are just a few of our favourites across the period under review. 
We would like to thank our many supporters, both individuals and organisations, for their generous financial donations during the year and we will continue to put these funds to good use for the benefit of townspeople and visitors alike.
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If you are interested in becoming involved with Skibbereen Tidy Towns please contact us at 087-6220132 or by email at skibbereentidytowns@icloud.com.
Featured image courtesy of Pixabay
Skibbereen Tidy Towns 