Coleraine and Portballintrae clean up at Best Kept Awards

Doreen Muskett; President of Northern Ireland Amenity Council (NIAC), Joe Mahon; Patron of NIAC, Caroline Scott and Nuala McGoldrick representing Darkfort Drive, Keith Porter; Central Grounds Manager at Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Stephen Patton, HR and CR Manager at Belfast City Airport

This award was also won by Rathain Fold last year and the judges praised the facility for maintaining its extremely high standard to win again.

Radius Housing, who runs Rathain Fold, won the prestigious award after impressing judges with the presentation of a beautiful floral wall which is situated at the entrance of the Fold to welcome all entering the premises.

Darkfort Drive was praised for being tidy and litter free with the judges commenting on their well-maintained gardens and attractive fencing.

Joe Mahon; Patron of Northern Ireland Amenity Council (NIAC), Yvonne Thompson, Louise Stuart and Liz Norris representing Rathain Fold, Keith Porter; Central Grounds Manager at Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Stephen Patton, HR and CR Manager at Belfast City Airport and Doreen Muskett; President of NIAC

Over 100 representatives from towns and villages across Northern Ireland joined together at the The Braid, Ballymena for the ceremony, presented by the Northern Ireland Amenity Council (NIAC).

President of The Northern Ireland Amenity Council, Doreen Muskett MBE, said: “As always, the standard of applications received across all three competition categories was extremely high and judges faced a very difficult decision in choosing the overall winner.

“The Best Kept City, Town, Village and Housing Area initiative is a fantastic opportunity for facilities across Northern Ireland to work with their local community to have a practical and positive effect on their direct environment.

“These Awards would cease to exist if it wasn’t for our judges, volunteers and enthusiastic participants from across Northern Ireland. A special thank you to Belfast City Airport for its continued support of the awards and dedication to environmental initiatives.”

Stephen Patton, Corporate Responsibility and HR Manager at Belfast City Airport, added: “On behalf of Belfast City Airport, I want to congratulate Rathian Fold and its residents, Darkfort Drive and of course Eglinton on this fantastic achievement.

“It is wonderful to recognise the excellent efforts from each city, town, village and housing area represented here today. The fantastic work that has been carried out, largely by volunteers, emphasises the value of civic pride and the importance of making practical improvements to build vibrant local communities.

“In the same way that the Best Kept Awards are a uniting force, gathering people from all parts of each community to work together for a common cause, through our Corporate Responsibility Programme Belfast City Airport has a strong and enduring commitment to support our local community, to see it thrive and to improve quality of life.”