THE Aisling Guardian of the Environment Award has always been one of the most important categories in our annual tribute to Belfast’s best. But as we look on with increasing concern at the state of the world around us, and as we see severe weather events begin to take place with increasing regularity on our small island, the imperative to do our bit to protect the planet becomes ever more urgent.
The award is this year once again generously sponsored by the global technology and services leader Concentrix as part of its commitment to the environment, both in its large Belfast presence and via its huge worldwide reach.
The job of combatting climate change is a crucial one – and like every big job it involves many of us doing modest but important things in aid of a larger good. Our four nominees this year certainly tick the box marked ‘important’ on that form – but what they’re doing day in and day out is far from modest...
• West Belfast’s Three Sisters Gardening Community was established in 2023 in the Beechmount area with a brief to spread the vital message of sustainability. They believe that we should and can be doing much, much more in the way of growing food for our own tables. In the Oakman/Cavendish area, where residents have no gardens to speak of, the group has created a communal garden where members get together to learn and practise the art of nurturing and growing. The positive mental health benefits that accrue are perhaps a side effect – but an increasingly important and effective one.
• Patricia Downey is one of the leading lights in a nature-loving group of women who gather together under the banner of ‘Meadow Ladies’ and meet weekly at the flora and fauna treasure trove that is the Bog Meadow. They take part in a range of imaginative and proactive activities that enhance both wellbeing and community spirit, connecting with and promoting the endless benefits to be harvested from the natural world around us.
• Education, education, education. The need to instil in our children both a love of the world around them and a desire to protect it is a growing part of what our schools do – and nowhere is that burgeoning ethos more apparent than in the work of Holy Evangelists Primary School in Twinbrook. Mark Lavery is the teacher tasked with driving forward that work. He liaises closely with the school’s pioneering Eco Council, which has a representative from each P4 to P7 class strategising and enacting a range of key targets agreed at the start of each year. The school has accrued a hugely impressive selection of environmental awards, most recently when Mark received the prestigious honour of being named NI Eco Teacher 2024.
• Mickey Culbert is quite simply the backbone of the Falls Park – which in turn is the environmental backbone of West Belfast. The sprawling open space is our green lung and for decades Mickey has been working tirelessly on a dizzying range of projects and initiatives that are at the very heart of Belfast City Council’s work with the community the Falls Park serves. Mickey’s work with schools and children in particular has been immense, combining education and fun in equal measure to make the historic and much-loved Falls Park not just a popular recreational area, but a stunning outdoor classroom.
