Sound Around Ards Honoured with Spirit of NI Community Hero Award
The dedicated volunteers behind Sound Around Ards (SAA), a long-running talking newspaper service for the Ards Peninsula, have been recognised with a Spirit of Northern Ireland Community Hero Award.
At a recent ceremony held at the Culloden Hotel in Cultra, the SAA team was honoured for their 45 years of service, providing free weekly audio recordings of local news and articles. The service supports residents of Ards and North Down who are visually impaired, have difficulty reading, or simply enjoy hearing a friendly voice deliver the news.
Alison Coyle, secretary of SAA, expressed her delight: “The fact that we had been nominated, let alone shortlisted, was just incredible.”
Volunteer Elizabeth Rankin, who accepted the award on the team’s behalf, added, “We all enjoy doing this for the community. I’ve been helping out since 1986 and really look forward to my turn on the rota. Yes, we are providing a service, but we all get so much out of doing this.”
If you know someone who could benefit from this free service, please contact Alison Coyle at 07977 473080 or email soundaroundards@outlook.com.
