Two big wins for Waterford at the National Lottery Good Causes Awards 2022

An inspiring choir and rural football club in Co.Waterford have scooped top honours at the National Lottery Good Causes Awards 2022.

Waterford High Hopes Choir won the Arts and Culture category on Saturday night (October 1st) taking home an amazing €10,000. The choir was set up 2014 with members from McGuire House Men’s Hostel, Focus Ireland, Simon Community, Tintain and Oasis women’s refuge. The choir empowers its members, whose lives have been affected by homelessness, through music and enables them to work in the community by singing at events.

Damien O'Sullivan, reacted to the win on Saturday night: "There tonight, sitting down, we're just happy to be here, its an amazing event. To be recognised and hear Waterford High Hopes mentioned at the Good Causes Awards is amazing. And to hear our name coming out (as winner of the Arts and Culture category), I nearly had to be picked up off the floor", he said.

Park Rangers AFC topped the Sport category on Saturday night, also scooping €10,000. Park Rangers is a rural club made up of 434 members, 77 voluntary coaches and 31 teams. The club has a 32% female participation rate and their Female Focus Campaign provides adequate toilets for female participation. In addition, the Female Focus Campaign addressed a key barrier to female participation in sport - the Menstrual Cycle. Park Rangers AFC is the first amateur club in Ireland to provide ongoing training workshops to members and coaches on the menstrual cycle and provide free sanitary products in toilets and in our first aid kits.

Michael Cox, Past Chairperson of Park Rangers and founder of the Female Focus Campaign reacted to the win: "Well to be honest with you, we're completely flabbergasted because the group before was a Waterford winner and we were hellbent sure that this would be a geographical spread of winners. So when we saw the Waterford winners up there our hopes were sort of subdued. So when our name was called we were particularly surprised, delighted the lot!", he said.

The National Lottery Good Causes Awards honour the inspiring work and achievements of thousands of projects, clubs and individuals from all over Ireland who, with the help of National Lottery Good Causes funding, have had an extraordinary impact on their local communities.