Tidy Randalstown celebrates another successful year

TIDY Randalstown held its 14th AGM in the cosy surroundings of O’Kane’s Lounge on Thursday when the volunteers had the opportunity to take stock of a very busy and successful year just past.

The Trustees’ Report highlighted some key events and developments. These included visits from Lady Mary Peters and Robin Swann MP as well as an outing to London for Chairperson Helen Boyd, who was invited to represent community gardeners from Northern Ireland at the launch in Westminster of two landmark reports from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) on the state of gardening in the UK.

The number of volunteer hours recorded for the year was 7,225, equating to nearly four full-time employees working to keep the town looking its best, whether by litter picking, maintaining community gardens and planting schemes, helping with the watering rota, fund raising, planning and administration, or maintaining machinery and equipment.

One major project that was phased over the year and is still ongoing was to introduce more self-watering planters throughout town and replace many of the barrels and other planters that have seen better days.

The self-watering planters and barrels are designed to make more efficient use of water and reduce the frequency of watering – a saving for the environment and for the volunteers.

Grant awards from the RHS, the National Lottery Community Fund, Keep it Local, Asda, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council (ANBC) helped to fund a range of projects and activities. In addition to this, personal and business donations together with funds raised from events and the annual street collection amounted to over £12,000.

The year’s success was reflected in the October announcement that Randalstown had been named winner in the Small Town category of Ulster in Bloom for the seventh consecutive time, as well as picking up the Wellbeing Award in the same competition. Elevation, the community garden on the viaduct also received a Community Green Flag for the second time.

Reflecting on the year, Helen Boyd stressed that winning these prizes represents only a small part of the picture as everyone in town is a winner as a result of Tidy Randalstown’s efforts.

“The whole community wins from having a town that is well kept and attractive; nature wins from our gardening activities which focus on sustainability and create corridors and corners for pollinators and other wildlife all around town; our volunteers win from spending time being active in the fresh air and from the friendships forged in our supportive volunteer community.”

Helen thanked all the volunteers for working so hard and giving so willingly of their time, describing them as ‘truly inspiring’.

The election to the committee was conducted by Barbara Gilchrist from ANBC. The following were re-elected en bloc: Helen Boyd, Suzanne Winter Moore Blair, Olive MacLeod, Stephanie Burns, Linda Houston, Robert Fulton, Gerry Lynch, Jane McTaggart. Edel Etherson, who had served as a co-opted member in 2025, was also elected to the committee.

Helen Boyd, Suzanne Winter and Moore Blair were subsequently re-elected as Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer respectively.