Programme for Louth groups to protect their local heritage opens for applications

Local community groups in Louth are being urged to apply for a free programme to help them protect and celebrate their local heritage.

The call for applications for the fifth year of Heritage Keepers opens today (June 3^rd) and is open to community groups and primary schools across Ireland in both urban and rural locations. 

The programme will this year have an increased number of places for both community groups and schools. Last year, 75 groups took part in the programme, with more than 200 groups having  participated since its started in 2022. (See two case studies in notes below)

Heritage Keepers helps participants to delve into their built, cultural and natural heritage, providing funding to allow them take positive local action.

The closing date for applications is September 30^th with the latest round of the programme starting in the autumn and running until the spring. Applications can be made online at www.heritagekeepers.ie 

Successful applicants will learn to develop a local plan to protect and celebrate their heritage through a series of interactive workshops. Once the workshops are complete, groups can apply for funding and receive ongoing mentoring from the Heritage Keepers team to bring their plans to life. 

Of the more than 200 groups and schools that have taken part in the programme since it was launched in 2022, some 90% have gone on to complete their funded action. The programme encourages applicants to link built, cultural and natural heritage as part of their projects. 

Some past actions include: exhibitions, heritage trails, tree planting, podcast creation, booklets, wildlife ponds, oral history projects and ‘Place Celebration’ days. Funding for fieldtrips is also provided, allowing participants to visit local heritage sites in person rather than just learning about them online. 

Heritage Keepers is an initiative of Burrenbeo Trust, which is a landscape charity dedicated to connecting all of us to our places and our role in caring for them. Heritage Keepers is funded by The Sunflower Charitable Foundation through Community Foundation Ireland.

Heritage Keepers Co-ordinator Mary Dillon says :

“We are delighted to be opening the call for the fifth year of the successful Heritage Keepers programme. Learning more about our places and their needs is the first step to building community stewardship, where communities and individuals feel empowered to take action locally to bring about real and meaningful change and action.

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“While our programme is open to both primary schools and community groups, this year we would love to see an increased uptake in the number of applications from community groups. We are incredibly proud and grateful to all our previous Heritage Keepers participants who have shown an inspiring amount of pride in their place and have proved to be wonderful stewards of their community. We are very excited to meet this year’s groups and hear all about their plans to protect and celebrate their local heritage.”

The Sunflower Charitable Foundation CEO Samantha Briody says: 

“The Sunflower Charitable Foundation is proud to support the Heritage Keepers programme, aimed at creating ‘pride in place’ and connection for local communities. We particularly welcome the ‘whole’ community approach as well as the focus on natural, cultural and built heritage.”