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Getting to Know Your Home
Glenullin and Agivey Conservation and Development group gathered in the Glen on Friday 28 November 2008 to formally launch their latest environmental project Getting to Know Your Home. This is a Heritage Lottery Fund supported project and consists of training Volunteer Guides, publishing Folklore from the Townlands of Glenullin and Field Guide to Glenullin Raised Bog, housing an Exhibition of environmental art work by children of St. Patrick’s and St Joseph’s Primary School, Glenullin and a permanent Exhibition of photographs of plants and flowers from around the Glen. The keynote speaker at the event was be Darryl Grimason of the BBC who has done so much to promote the love of the outdoors via his programmes.
Getting to Know Your Home is the latest project of a very able and active community grouping in the farthest reaches of the Coleraine Borough Council area, three miles out of Garvagh in the NE Sperrins. The area is known as Glenullin or ‘the Glen’ and is steeped in an interest in natural and cultural history. Philippa Richardson, Heritage Lottery Fund, Northern Ireland, said: "We were delighted to support this project to explore and share the rich and diverse heritage of Glenullin. The group have delivered a tremendous amount of work and shown great enthusiasm for opening up their local heritage for everyone to experience and enjoy.
The idea behind the project Getting to Know Your Home was to raise further awareness among the local community, and especially the young people, about the valuable heritage on their doorstep. The project engaged with the people from near and far to deliver the project and in particular worked in partnership with the local school St Patrick’s and St Josephs, Glenullin, and Mark Strong, Jim Allen and Emma McLaughlin of Coleraine Borough Council and Richard Gillen of Limavady Borough Council. There has been significant local input to the project with four of our Volunteer Guides being local people and the folklore collectors and all those they interviewed being from the Glenullin and nearby areas.
Local landowners have cooperated with the Group over the years allowing the establishment of two Way Marked Trails in the Glen and the photo imagery collected over the course of the project has prompted the production of calendars and mouse mats which are still available at Glenullin Resource Centre. The images celebrate the local area and make great gifts at this time of year.
Our Volunteer Guides are trained and getting in as much guiding practice as they can over the winter with a view to sharing their gleaned knowledge of the Glen with visiting schools, walking groups, research students and tourists in the Spring/Summer of 2009.
The Group greatly appreciates all the support they have had from the community and from funders. “One of the pleasures of this work is the ‘ready to help’ attitude you get from the fraternity of people committed to working for the environment. It has made my job as project coordinator that much easier” said Sheila Fairon who looks after project delivery.
The Launch of the project was at Glenullin Resource Centre on Friday 29 November and thereafter there was an Open Day at Glenullin Resource Centre, 1 Glenview, Brockagh Road, Garvagh BT51 5DZ on Tuesday 2 December 11.00am to 8.00pm to allow the public to visit the exhibitions, avail of calendars, mousemats and the Folklore and Field Guide booklets
To find out more about Getting to Know Your Home, the work of the Group or to acquire the Folklore booklet, Field Guide to Glenullin Bog or even calendars contact us:
Tel:028 29557380 email: info@glenullinservices.com
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