UTV Projects

UTV broadcasts to people across Northern Ireland and holds the record for the highest number of votes cast for one project.

Over the past five years of the People’s Millions competition we have seen some great projects in Northern Ireland. Previous winners include river trails, play parks, a project to provide horticultural training, community gardens and many more.

Sensory/Nurturing Room Project

The project will refurbish and equip existing rooms within Holy Trinity Primary School in Cookstown into a sensory/nurturing facility. The room will be used by children with physical and learning difficulties and those experiencing emotional and behavioural problems. The room will operate as a calming area to help children learn new and acceptable codes of behaviour, alleviate stress and raise self-esteem. The project will also offer support and advice to parents and carers through the development of parental programmes and will be run by the Holy Trinity Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and local volunteers.

Growing Communities in Carrickfergus

This project will develop a community fruit and vegetable growing project at Carrickfergus Community Allotments at Eden. It will include developing a demonstration garden and horticultural training room. Both these resources will help local people to grow their own food and build links to local communities, encouraging cross-community working. The project will involve many of the local schools in 'Grown your own Food' projects at both the allotments and the school grounds, helping to encouraging healthy diets and exercise. It will also involve people from deprived communities in the wards of Northland, Sunnylands, Clipperstown and Love Lane in Carrickfergus and will also give people with physical and mental health difficulties the opportunity to get involved with a community project. The impact of the project will include improved community relations and reduced tension, increased knowledge about diet and healthy eating, increased skills and employability and reduced stress and improved mental health. Local community groups have been approached and have expressed an interest in being involved in the project.

Our School, Our Community, Our World

The project is to turn a large, unused and over-grown area at the back of St. Peter's Primary School in Plumbridge into a multi-purpose activity area. This will be split into four zones including (1) a play area with play equipment, (2) a calming area with seats and a small water feature, (3) a music experimentation area, and (4) a gardening area. The project, which will be open to the local community in the evenings and at weekends, will provide children, young people and other members of the community, including those with special needs, with an interesting and stimulating environment. The project will benefit 447 individuals, including 147 children / young people and 300 adults / older people.

Enclosed Ball Arena

Hill Croft Special School, based in New Mossley, Newtownabbey, is a school for children and young people aged 3-19 years with severe learning difficulties. Please support our 'Enclosed Ball Arena' project as winning this grant will enable our children to enjoy play in a safe enclosed area. The children currently have no flat surface on which to play so this will make a great difference to their school day. The range of disability within Hill Croft is quite diverse. In addition to their severe learning difficulties, there are children who have visual and hearing impairments, speech and language difficulties, mobility difficulties, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, epilepsy and challenging behaviour.

Sensory Learning Initiative

The project will convert a grassy area at Mary Murray House, a daycare/residential facility based in Newcastle, into a sensory playground. The area will be used by the residents of Mary Murray House, pupils from the adjoining nursery and primary schools; other adults, young people and children with autism, learning and physical disabilities, living in and around the County Down area. The sensory playground will provide a place for beneficiaries to enhance their quality of life, stimulate their senses and provide a shared place of integration for able and less able bodied people to come together and understand each other. Currently, residents of Mary Murray House have no links with the wider community and little provision for sensory stimulation. The project aims to address this by providing opportunities for young people to work alongside people with various disabilities, through volunteering and provides a safe environment for less abled people to have sensory stimulus.

Garden of Hope

The project will develop a piece of outside ground to create a 'Garden of Hope', at Wave's centre in North Belfast, that will be split into a number of sections. Each section will focus on varying needs including specifically designed seated areas for less abled people, a youth section including a graffiti wall and ropes course, a children's play area, a vegetable and herb area, a quiet area for contemplation and an area that will be a memorial/reflection garden for those affected by the Troubles. Currently the gardens and space are not utilised fully and Wave proposes to use the space more effectively with various areas aimed at different age groups. All sections will be fully accessible to both abled and less abled people, and children will have a safe place to play, whilst parents are accessing Wave's services. Groundwork NI will work alongside Wave and the beneficiaries to create each section.