Issue 183 - Belfast BT6 • BT7 • BT8
SOUTH BELFAST’S ECO VOLUNTEERS CELEBRATED!
Live Here Love Here, a peoplepowered campaign dedicated to improving the local environment and fostering civic pride, has revealed the winners of its 2025 Community Awards.
Pictured at the launch are; Catherine McGourty, Head of PE/Sport (girls) at Our Lady and St Patrick’s College Knock with year 8 pupils Phoebe Deazley and Torin Deeney and Fearghal McKinney, Head of BHF Northern Ireland.
Schoolchildren across Belfast and beyond to become lifesavers with free digital CPR training A new interactive online learning tool has been launched by British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland (BHF NI) to equip thousands of schoolchildren with essential life-saving skills. Classroom RevivR is a game-changing tool that makes teaching lifesaving skills to students aged 11 to 16 easy and fun. It meets Northern Ireland curriculum standards and can be taught in one easy lesson plan -
minimising teachers’ workload. Working together, young people will learn the difference between cardiac arrest and heart attack, how to respond to an unconscious person and make an emergency call, how to use a
defibrillator and how to perform CPR safely. The local heart charity has launched the free digital tool during Heart Month in February, to encourage pupils to be prepared in the event of an emergency. Around fifty schools
in Northern Ireland are already successfully using Classroom RevivR and BHF NI hopes the launch of this tool will help save many lives.
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The event, held at Belfast City Hall recently hosted by TV presenter Joe Mahon, brought together over 150 guests - including DAERA Minister Andrew Muir, local leaders, environmental advocates and volunteers – to honour the outstanding contributions of voluntary community groups across Northern Ireland working to improve the environment and promote civic pride. The awards serve as a vital platform for recognising the power of collective action in tackling community environmental challenges such as dog fouling, littering, biodiversity loss, transformation of neglected spaces, and environmental education. On the night, 12 awards were presented to celebrate the achievements of local community groups, including the Regional Champions Awards, which
honoured volunteers from Live Here Love Here’s nine partner council areas. The Belfast YMCA Community Garden, based in South Belfast, received Belfast City Council’s Regional Champions Award for transforming a neglected space into a vibrant community garden that promotes biodiversity, sustainability, environmental awareness, and offers therapeutic activities for individuals with complex needs. West Belfast’s Three Sisters Gardening Community Group was also recognised in this category as runners-up for their efforts in transforming inner-city spaces into green havens that address mental health, food poverty, and environmental challenges. For more information on the Live Here Love Here campaign and the Community Awards, visit liveherelovehere.org.