23 April 2023
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
A Cork hotel is asking people to shine a spotlight on community champions in their area. This is the third year of the Cork International Hotel Community Spirit Awards which honour volunteers who are making a significant contribution to their community.
Pictured at the launch are judges Vincent O’Donovan, (left) Carrigdhoun Newspaper; Nicola Radley, Cork County Council and Eoghan Murphy, General Manager, Cork International Hotel.
Pic: Brian Lougheed
Nominations are open to individuals, community groups and organisations in Cork from first-responders to community centres, victim support services to sports groups and those volunteering in the health and disability sectors.
A group or individual is chosen every month with an overall winner selected at the end of the year. Last year’s winner was the Down Syndrome Centre Cork which relies entirely on fundraising to deliver occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, early intervention programmes as well as parent and baby classes. It also runs events for siblings and networking events for parents.
Eoghan Murphy, General Manager of the Cork International Hotel said: “It’s a privilege to be able to bring the Community Spirit Awards back and we are really looking forward to seeing the incredible volunteers who are nominated by the people in their local community. We are always really impressed by the stories of those who are nominated and the efforts they go to to help others. We are asking the public to put forward the people who are making a real difference to their communities week in week out.”
Carmel Lonergan, Trigon’s Director of Group Operations who has been on the judging panel for the last two years, said: “We have been blown away by the response to the Community Spirit Awards since we launched them in 2021. There are so many people working tirelessly in our communities to help others, volunteering their time and talents for the benefit of people they know as well as complete strangers. They provide a remarkable service to the public and we are delighted to be in a position to honour them and thank them for their efforts.”
The awards are sponsored by The Carrigdhoun Newspaper and Gerald McCarthy Giftware. The judging panel is made up of private and public sector representatives.
Nominations are open now: https://www.corkinternationalairporthotel.com/community-spirit-awards/