THIRTEEN HARD-WORKING GROUPS PRESENTED WITH PURE MILE AWARDS
OVER 50 different communities improved over 220 miles in County Wicklow this year and received recognition for their efforts at the Pure Mile awards at The Brooklodge Hotel.
The Pure Mile Competition encourages groups in Wicklow and south Dublin to adopt a mile of road in their local area and keep it free from litter
There were 13 awards presented on the night, with cash prizes reaching a total of €5,000.
The awards and certificates were presented by Minister of State for Food, Forestry and Horticulture Andrew Doyle and the cathaoirleach for Wicklow County Council, Cllr Pat Vance.
The Best Pure Mile Award, and a cheque for €1,000, was presented to The Baltynanima Pure Mile Group. The community produced a beautiful local heritage booklet outlining the numerous cultural and social heritage features of the area, the local flora and fauna, and also created a website for their area. The award acknowledged the groups interpretative methods relating to their cultural and natural heritage, including, a number of informational panels along their 4-mile looped walk.
The Best Cultural Heritage Award and a cheque for €300 was presented to the Glen Heste Pure Mile, with the Best Natural Heritage Award going to The Avoca Scouts/Beavers Group for their work on creating environmental awareness in their area.
The Best Education Award was presented to Brittas Bay NS, with Best Community Effort Award going to Snugborough Pure Mile in Donard.
A number of groups involved in the Clean-Up the Uplands category received Highly Commended Awards. Two Dublin based walking groups, Atha Cliath Uplands Team, and the Glencree Walking Group, as well as the west Wicklow cycling group Reservoir Cogs were commended for the cleanup days they organised.
The overall award for Best Clean-up the Uplands was presented to Vagabond Tours.
The award for The Best Anti-Dumping Initiative and a cheque for €500, went to the 12 miles of road that were adopted by the Stratford On Slaney Pure Mile, with two Highly Commended Anti-Dumping Awards going to the Ballyteige, Ballinatombay, Ballinabarney and Rednagh Annacurra Pure Mile groups. The 18 Pure Miles of Grangecon were presented with the Best Litter Free Award and received a cheque of €500, with Ballydowling and Ballysheeman receiving a Highly Commended Litter Free Award.
Ian Davis, Pure Project Manager, said the initiative gets bigger every year, with this year seeing the biggest number of areas involved so far.
‘All the groups deserve a huge amount of credit for improving and enhancing the areas they both live and recreate in, with groups removing approximately 3,000 bags of rubbish from the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands,’ said Mr Davis.
‘I would like to congratulate all of the groups involved in this year’s competition and I look forward to working with more groups in 2019 Pure Mile’.