• Can you offer any information that you might have regarding your community that might be of interest – no matter how small?

• Or indeed hi-res photographs of County Wicklow that can be used for the submission and/or presentation?

In 2008 Greystones won 1st Place and the gold award at the World LivCom Awards as the most livable community with a population under 20,000 people.

Grainne Mc Loughlin initiated the application and put together the submission that got her & two others to the finals in Dongguan in China.

Once again, Grainne is going for Gold and this year has put forward the whole County of Wicklow (Under the category of communities under 150,000 People) for the World LivCom awards.

The submission is now under way and Grainne is collating a vast amount of information pertaining to the following categories:

1. Enhancement of the Natural & Built Landscapes
2. Arts Culture & Heritage
3. Environmental Best Practices
4. Community Participation and Empowerment
5. Healthy Lifestyles
6. Strategic Planning

The initial submission is judged by three judges and following that, an interim decision on whether the application will be a finalist will take place.  Decisions on this is decided by the end of August.

If following the interim judging process, Wicklow is selected as a finalist in the LivCom Awards, a 40 minute presentation will be made at the finals in Chicago in November.

In addition, Grainne has also nominated the East Coast Nature Reserve in Newcastle for a Project Award and also a Bursary award (value at 10,000euro) for the “outdoor Classroom” Project at the East Coast Neature Reserve.

At this stage, Grainne welcomes any information that you might have regarding your community that might be of interest – no matter how small and she is also looking for hi-res photographs that can be used for the submission and/or presentation.

Grainne stated…” I firmly believe that Wicklow is a beautiful under estimated county and we do not appreciate enough the huge amount of community involvement and positive things that are going on, particularly at a time when everything is doom and Gloom. For once, I want us to celebrate the positives of where we live….”

We here at The Wicklow Way of Living Couldn’t agree with you more Grainne!

Grainne can be contacted on 086 8329686 or mcloughlingrainne@gmail.com

For more information www.livcomawards.com