Bank of Ireland launches Begin Together Awards in Northern Ireland

£180,000 prize fund to help reboot local economies across the island of Ireland

  • New awards to focus on resilience and recovery of towns hit by COVID-19
  • Call for entries from towns large and small across Northern Ireland
  • Prize fund is part of wider £910,000 (€1 million) Bank of Ireland support for local enterprise and community groups across the island of Ireland over the coming months

15 July 2020

Bank of Ireland today launched the Begin Together Awards 2020, a new Award scheme available for the first time in Northern Ireland, with a prize fund of £180,000 to support towns locally and across the island of Ireland as they reboot and recover from the impact of COVID-19.

The Awards will bring business and community groups together to support local recovery and rebuilding as Covid-19 restrictions are lifted and people get back to work. The initiative will be fast-tracked to provide funding to winning towns by the beginning of October and directly assist their COVID-19 recovery

There are 21 monetary prizes available across 10 categories with an overall winner receiving £45,000 and the title of ‘Most Enterprising Town’. There is also a prize of £18,000 for the winner of the ‘Rising Star’ award.

Speaking at the launch, Ian McLaughlin, CEO Retail UK, Bank of Ireland UK, said:

“I am delighted we are launching the Begin Together Awards in Northern Ireland. Our experience has shown that incredible things can be achieved when communities, business groups and local authorities come together to meet their own challenges and make their own opportunities. This year, COVID-19 has presented the biggest challenge to our physical, mental and financial wellbeing in living memory, which makes that ‘can-do’ enterprising spirit more important than ever.

“We have seen the tremendous challenges local business owners have faced and are still facing across Northern Ireland because of the pandemic. Through the lockdown, Bank of Ireland took immediate steps to support our customers and now, as we move towards recovery, we are focussed on practical initiatives that can help the local economy to ‘reboot’. Through the Bank of Ireland Begin Together Awards we are supporting businesses and communities across the island of Ireland as they restart and get back on their feet.”

Reflecting the challenge that communities and businesses currently face because of the pandemic, there are three special COVID-response awards:

  • Local Town Promotion Initiative -. A marketing or promotional campaign designed to help kick start the local economy.
  • Local Community Enterprise Initiative – A local enterprise initiative established specifically to ease the impact of COVID-19 or one that repurposed itself during the pandemic and was ready to begin operation on the easing of restrictions.
  • Local Business and Community Response Initiative – A joint initiative by local businesses and the community to manage the impact of COVID-19 through lockdown and beyond as towns start to reopen.

The Begin Together Awards are part of a £2.5 million investment Bank of Ireland is making in the ‘Begin Together’ initiative, a three year campaign, launched in Northern Ireland in February to improve the financial, physical and mental wellbeing of Ireland’s communities while supporting the underlying local economies.

Begin Together is an all-island initiative with three strands – the Begin Together Fund, the Begin Together Awards and Begin Together Colleagues. Each strand has a specific purpose and combined will deliver a significant positive impact on communities across Ireland.

The closing date for Begin Together Award entries is 24 August. For more information on the awards and for application forms, please visit bankofireland.com/begintogetherawards

Notes to the Editor

Bank of Ireland Begin Together initiative

Following the donation of £910k in emergency funding to communities impacted by COVID-19 in March, Bank of Ireland will be injecting an additional £910k to local communities and a range of organisations over the coming months. This will be disbursed primarily through the Bank of Ireland Begin Together programme, which has several initiatives including:

  • the Begin Together Awards to support local enterprise in towns across the island of Ireland;
  • the Begin Together Fund supporting local community groups and charities, which is managed through the Community Foundation for Ireland;
  • and the Begin Together Fund for Colleagues which will further support those local not-for-profit organisations which our Bank of Ireland colleagues are personally involved with.

Begin Together Awards – Prize Categories

Population categories:

  • 0-2000
  • 2,001-4,000
  • 4,001-7000
  • 7,001-14,000
  • 14,000+
  • Winner of each category £9,000
  • Runner Up of each category £4,500

Special category awards:

  • Local Business and Community Response Initiative
  • Local Town Promotion Initiative
  • Local Community Enterprise Initiative
  • Winner £18,000 (Runner Up £4,500)
  • Winner £9,000 (Runner Up £4,500)
  • Winner £9,000 (Runner Up £4,500)

City Award

Winner £9,000 (Runner Up £4,500)

Rising Star

Winner £18,000 (Runner Up £4,500)

Overall winner

£36,000 plus £9,000 as winner of population or city category.