Autism Support Louth & Meath, a parent-led group who provide information and support to families with children and adults affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder, are preparing to compete in the Youth category of the National Lottery Good Causes Awards on Saturday 29th May.
The National Lottery Good Causes Awards honour the work and achievements of thousands of projects, clubs and individuals from all over Ireland who with the help of National Lottery Good Causes funding have had an extraordinary impact on their local communities. Nearly 30 cent in every €1 spent on National Lottery games goes back to Good Causes all over the country.
Autism Support Louth & Meath founded the Drogheda ABACAS Special School for Children with Autism in 2003. The group runs youth clubs and summer camps for young people of all ages and support levels as well as activities such as drama, music and sound therapy.
Their Social Drama project benefited from National Lottery Good Causes funding as the group were able to enlist technical expertise to work with the older youth club on numerous activities such as writing and producing an award winning short film, musical performances and a radio programme for Autism Radio. By taking part in the drama and musical performances, participants developed their self-esteem and confidence and they also went on to perform at community events.
The Awards have six categories: Sport, Health & Wellbeing, Heritage, Arts & Culture, Community and Youth. A seventh category, Irish Language, will have a special award to be announced on the night at the Awards final, in recognition of outstanding work done in the promotion of the Irish Language.
Each category winner will receive €10,000 while the overall Good Cause of the Year will get an additional €25,000 on top of this. The winners will be announced at a virtual event hosted by Grainne Seoige live from the Mansion House on Saturday 29th May.
Following the announcement of the thirty-six finalists back in February, each of the community groups, sports clubs and organisations from all over Ireland, went on to the virtual judging segment of the competition which took place on Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th February. Representatives from each of the finalist groups were asked to do a short presentation remotely to the judging panel and to answer any questions that arose.
The judging panel was chaired by Nuala Carey, Lotto presenter, and also included Seamus Griffin, CEO of the Griffin Retail Group, Fergus Finlay, Columnist and Author, and Jennifer Crowe, CSR Manager of the National Lottery.
Awards Chairperson, Nuala Carey, said: “We were in total awe of each of the 36 finalists after seeing their presentations.”
“Each of the finalists truly are doing amazing work within their communities and if we could give them all an award, we would! I wish all 36 finalists the best of luck on the day.”
For more information see: www.lottery.ie/good-causes-awards/finalists
