Launch of the Lough Erne Landscape Partnership
News:The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) recently awarded the Lough Erne Landscape Partnership (LELP) a National Lottery grant of £2.6 million through its Landscape Partnership programme. The partnership supported by six partner organisations will deliver twenty-three projects with the aim to restore, enhance and conserve the heritage and landscape of Lough Erne.
The official launch of the Partnership took place on Wednesday afternoon at the Enniskillen Castle Museum. Opening the celebratory event Joanne Sherwood, (Director, RSPB NI – lead partner) stated:
“Lough Erne has a wealth of natural, built and cultural heritage throughout this magnificent landscape. We are delighted to be working with the support of the National Lottery and in collaboration with our partners, in the delivery of these fantastic projects. Each of these projects will leave a lasting legacy on communities and landscape of the region”.
The event was very well attended with guests enjoying a key note address from Journalist and broadcaster Joe Mahon, well known for the highly successful Lesser Spotted Ulster series and most recently Lough Neagh series on UTV.
The key funder Heritage Lottery Fund, was represented by NI Committee member Mr Jim McGreevy who highlighted how vital the landscape partnership is to reconnecting people with their past and ensuring a sustainable future for the environment. A representative from HLF stated;
“We have invested over £49 million of National Lottery player’s money into landscape and nature projects across NI which are helping people to get involved with, learn about and care for places, from the Glens of Antrim to the Ring of Gullion. We are delighted that Lough Erne will now benefit from the same support and we’re excited to see what they will achieve. Across the UK people are increasingly realising that nature is in trouble and it’s time to take a more proactive approach. Schemes like these provide a creative local solution to help people reconnect with their landscapes and the environment and to implement solutions to tackle issues. We wish the partnership every success as they embark on this ambitious scheme.”
Those attending had the opportunity to meet with representatives of the projects, including The Inniskilling Museum who also launched their Access Inniskillings project on the day. This project will identify more than 10,000 fragile and irreplaceable pre-1900 paper, print and photographic archives within the museum collection and convert them into digital format.
Project partners The Mummers Foundation entertained guests with a cultural performance of one of Fermanagh’s oldest traditions.
The partnership will deliver the scheme over 5 years with the overall aim to improve access to the lough, protect habitats and species, conserve and enhance the built, natural and cultural heritage of the region and engage communities in 500km2 of landscape.
Throughout the scheme there will be a full calendar of events for people to enjoy and get involved with. This will include, family activity days, community archaeology events, habitat preservation, recreational activities to name a few, as well as many opportunities to volunteer and learn new skills. To receive further information of these please contact the LELP team by emailing info@lelp.org.uk
This outstanding scheme could not be delivered without the support of National Lottery players and project partners.