€30,000 is donated to local organisations
In 2015 Intel launched the Pride of Place competition for the first time, a competition which seeks to provide monetary support to projects and initiatives in the communities local to the Intel campus in Leixlip, Co. Kildare.
The first Pride of Place competition supported environmental initiatives in the community by partnering with the Tidy Town Associations of Leixlip, Celbridge and Maynooth who each put forward a variety of projects which competed for funding as part of a public voting campaign. Intel went on to fund 3 of the proposed projects with a total of €30,000 being invested across the 3 towns.
This year the Pride of Place competition continued with the chance for local community groups to submit their proposals for projects that could help improve their own organisations while also benefiting the local communities.
Representatives of the winning organisations are pictured at the Pride of Place awards ceremony
Representatives of the winning organisations are pictured at the Pride of Place awards ceremony
The latest competition was launched in April of this year and asked local organisations to share details of their idea, explain why it deserved to receive funding and how it would enrich the lives of people in the community. All applications received then went forward for judging by a panel which included representatives from Kildare County Council, Business in the Community Ireland and Intel, who had the tough task of choosing 6 winning submissions which each received €5,000 in funding from Intel to complete their project.
The winning projects were announced at a special ceremony held at the Intel campus in Leixlip on Wednesday June 15th. The event was attended by members of the local communities and included addresses from Director of Public Affairs at Intel Ireland, Leonard Hobbs and from Elise McCarty of Business in the Community Ireland who was a member of the judging panel for the competition.
The winning projects were as follows;
- Tea Lane Graveyard – the Tea Lane Graveyard committee, in conjunction with Celbridge Tidy towns, won €5000 funding for their project idea which seeks to furnish a medieval chapel to be used as a community space for exhibitions and to commission a drone video production narrating the story of the site for tourists and other visitors.
- Celbridge HeartSafe little lifesavers – the goal of the Celbridge HeartSafe project is to have an automated external defibrillator (AED) accessible 24/7 in Celbridge and to provide training to 20% of the community on the use of the device. The group also plan to involve young people in the ‘Chain of Survival’ by training them to become little lifesavers. The Intel Pride of Place funding will be used to purchase AEDS and supply training.
- Maynooth Tidy Towns – the Maynooth Tidy Towns winning application involves the purchase of cast iron flower pots which will be installed in Maynooth village in order to enhance the streetscape for the broader community.
- Meals on Wheels Leixlip – The Meals on Wheels organisation in Leixlip provides 30 meals a day, four days a week, to clients around the Leixlip area. The aim of their project is to upgrade their kitchen utilities to make a safer environment for the volunteers who prepare the meals and the Pride of Place funding will used for the likes of replacing the floor tiles and the purchase of new oven and fridge freezer.
- Leixlip Amenities – Following the closure of the Leixlip resource centre, the Leixlip amenities centre wishes to provide a similar service to the community by providing services for the unemployed such as, photocopying, typing, scanning, binding and internet access in a purpose built room in the centre.
- 1st/10th Kildare Leixlip Scouts Group – the Leixlip Scout group submitted a project idea to install 19 benches around the fire pit at their den in Leixlip which currently has no seating. The area will be used to host camp fires when youth members are staying over night and the benches will be made from recycled products. The project will also benefit another 10 scouts groups in the wider Kildare area who are without premises.
There was an additional surprise on the night as Intel revealed that there would be a prize for every organisation that submitted an entry to the competition with each receiving an Intel powered tablet.
The winning projects will now be completed over the coming months by the recipient organisations.
