Mid and East Antrim welcomes £37k Heritage Lottery Funding for Northern Ireland centenary celebrations

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has welcomed a grant of £37,200 from the Shared History Fund to celebrate the centenary of Northern Ireland.

The Council is one of only 39 recipients awarded a grant through the Shared History Fund across Northern Ireland. It is a £1million fund which The National Lottery Heritage Fund is distributing on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office to mark 100 years since the creation of Northern Ireland.

As part of the celebrations for the year ahead, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council plans to use the funding for a wide range of events, exhibitions and community initiatives, all aimed at showcasing and championing culture, heritage, education, history, future prosperity, and more.

Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Councillor Peter Johnston said: “We’re grateful to the Northern Ireland Office and The National Lottery Heritage Fund for providing this funding.

“This year is a real cause for celebration, marking one hundred years of the creation of Northern Ireland, and I commend Council for its commitment to mark this proud milestone with an array of events and initiatives.

“We want to reach out to all our residents to learn together and celebrate our past to help inform our shared future.”

Chair of Council’s Northern Ireland 100 Working Group, Councillor Cheryl Johnston, said: “The Looking Back to Look Forward project makes good use of Council’s museum collections to provide an important historical context as we mark the Centenary of Northern Ireland through our NI I00 Programme this year.

“Thanks to this grant, we will be able to share some untold stories about Northern Ireland’s history and provide an opportunity for our local communities to learn about life in Mid and East Antrim over the decades and how it has shaped who we are now.”

The Shared History Fund, which The National Lottery Heritage Fund is distributing on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office, will support groups in marking the Centenary of Northern Ireland in 2021 in a thoughtful, inclusive and engaging way.

The funding will help Council’s Museum and Heritage Service to develop and deliver a Centenary project entitled ‘Looking Back to Look Forward: Mid and East Antrim 1921-2021’. The project, which begins in May, will entail an exhibition, with a public talks series, exploring life in Mid and East Antrim across the decades against a timeline of key events in the history of Northern Ireland.

A community volunteer strand involving local groups will allow for their perspectives to be shared and an associated book as a learning resource will be produced. The project will also enable a creative initiative to be delivered working with a local writer.

Meanwhile, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council is encouraging community groups from across the Borough to apply to the Council’s Northern Ireland Centennial Grant, which is now open for applications.

For the latest on the NI 100 celebrations in Mid and East Antrim, visit midandeastantrim.gov.uk/ni100

Notes to editors

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund

The National Heritage Memorial Fund, which also operates as The National Lottery Heritage Fund, is delivering the Shared History Fund on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office.

The Shared History Fund uses funds provided by the UK Government, and is not National Lottery funding.

Outside of this fund, The National Lottery Heritage Fund uses money raised by the National Lottery, inspiring, leading and resourcing the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future.

Since The National Lottery began in 1994, National Lottery players have raised over £41 billion for projects and over 565,000 grants have been awarded across the UK.

Follow @HeritageFundUK and @HeritageFundNI on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLotteryHeritageFund

www.HeritageFund.org.uk