Projects

National Tree Week (March) – This National Tree Week we received 100 tree whips from Easy Treesie and planted them around Ballymun including Out Lady of Victories National School, Glas community garden, Coultry, Carton, Ballymun library and Trinity Comprehensive.

National Spring Clean (April) – For National Spring Clean month we call out to residents to nominate an area in Ballymun which needs a bit of extra TLC. Our volunteers join in with the residents and get stuck in for a big clean-up. It’s great fun and a very enjoyable day.

National Biodiversity Week (May) – We use this week to showcase the great work that’s being done in our community around biodiversity. From the Ballymun Wild-life Facebook page showing the biodiversity on our door steps, to the community and youth gardens growing and using their own produce, biodiversity in Ballymun is going from strength to strength.

Ballymun In Pictures (May) – This competition is open to anyone from Ballymun. Just take a photo from the 2 categories: Flowers and Wildlife and send it in. This is a great way to apricate the amount of beauty and biodiversity we have all around us in Ballymun.

Ballymun In Bloom (May) – This Plant Sale is run with the support of DCC and local community groups. All of the plants sold are pollinator friendly. We have information booths about local groups including the Rediscovery Centre and The City Farm, Ballymun and gardening demonstrations. A great day altogether!

Ballymun Tidy Towns Competition (June/July) – This is where Ballymun shines. It is an opportunity to showcase our beautiful gardens, open and enclosed green areas, community and youth gardens and shop fronts. This is the highlight of our year!

World Clean Up Day (Sept) – This is an opportunity to link in with schools and local environmental/resident groups to do a Ballymun wide clean-up. The sense of pride and comradery is brilliant.

Ballymun Tidy Towns Competition Awards Night (Sept) – We use this night, not only to present the awards to the winners of the Ballymun Tidy Towns Competition, but to recognise and celebrate all the hard work our community has done throughout the year. There is also song, dance and delicious food, so a great night for all to say Thank You.

World Mental Health Day (Oct) – As one of the enormous benefits of have a cleaner, greener, safer place to live and work is for your mental health. So we planted bookmakers infused with wild flower seeds donated by Mental Health Ireland. The theme was Reflect and Grow, reflect on what we have come through and seeds of hope for growth in the future. Students from Trinity Comprehensive and nuns from Holy Spirit Church took part, recognising that good mental health is import for both young and old alike.

Ballymun Tidy Towns Spooky Competition (Oct) – In conjunction with the Otherworld Festival, this competition celebrates all things spooky! Along with Spookiest House / Road / Shop Front, we have a category for the Best decorations using recycled materials – it’s a great way to promote a more sustainable Halloween.

New and Ongoing Projects

Ballymun Biodiversity Action Plan – Funding was provided by The Community Foundation of Ireland to work on a new Ballymun Biodiversity Action Plan. This is achieved with the help of two ecologist and input from the local community. Actions will be ones that we decide as a community and work on at a grassroots level.

Stashtrays Project – We contacted NoButts.ie who are an Irish start-up company. They collect cigarette butts and recycle them into reusable plastic for glasses frames. We were the first location in Ireland to install these Stashtrays. We currently have 10 located around Ballymun which are a great success.

Repak Recycling Project – We are part of a pilot project run by Repak and involving Sunflower Recycling. It is open to all community groups in Ballymun who just need to collect aluminium cans and plastic bottles, place them in Repak bags and drop them into Nan’s SuperValu for collection. Each bag is worth €4 for the group. This is a fantastic way to give back to the community and encourage recycling.