Martin McDonald judges Drumfries & Galloway Rural Awards

10/08/2010

Martin McDonald from the Rural Network NI has been invited to participate as an independent expert judge for the Drumfries and Galloway Rural Awards 2010.

The awards, which are back by popular demand following successful awards in 2005 and 2007, will celebrate the people, projects and organisations that bring real change to Drumfries and Galloway. Projects supported by Drumfries and Galloway LEADER programme in the current funding period are eligible to apply. The best projects will also feature in a Good Practice Guide. So far the LEADER programme is working with 44 communities across the region. Since September 2008, over £1.5 million has been invested by LEADER in rural communities:

• More that 20,000 young people directly engaged in LEADER supported rural activities
• Almost 500 small businesses involved with local community initiatives
• At least 18 jobs have been created

Closing date for the awards was 9th July. Projects will be judged initially by the LEADER Local Action Group with the best projects in each category being short-listed and promoted in the Good Practice Guide. The winning projects will be selected by independent expert judges from outside the region, including Martin McDonald, and announced at the Rural Awards Ceremony on 12th November 2010. Following the announcements, the Rural Network NI will hope to highlight some of the winning projects as case study examples to share practice across the regions. Download Dumfries and Galloway LEADER Best Practice Guide

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