Three LGBTQ+ organisations from Cork and Dublin are getting ready to compete in the National Lottery Good Causes Awards finals on Saturday 29th May.

The National Lottery Good Causes Awards honour the inspiring work and achievements of thousands of projects, clubs, and individuals from all over Ireland who have had an extraordinary impact on their local communities.

There are seven categories in the awards, they are Sport, Health & Wellbeing, Heritage, Arts & Culture, Community, Youth and Irish Language. Each category winner will receive €10,000 while the overall Good Cause of the Year winner will get an additional €25,000 on top of this.

The Cork LGBT Archive is a finalist in the Heritage category for the Good Causes Awards. The Archive aims to gather, preserve and share the rich history of the Cork LGBT community and ensure that the materials are accessible for all.

A physical collection is based on the Arthur Leahy collection – a private collection previously stored in a damp basement. The funding received from the National Lottery Good Causes Awards allowed the physical collection to be properly sorted and catalogued. It also facilitated the development of the digital archive.

Since 2003, BeLonG To Youth Services has supported lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI+) young people between the ages of 14 and 23. In 2019, the funding from the National Lottery enabled the group to support 1,398 individuals through their flagship youth service in Dublin and National Network of 56 LGBTI+ youth groups. BeLonG To Youth are a finalist in the Youth category.

The International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival runs for two weeks every May across Dublin City Centre and features 20-30 productions from Ireland and abroad, free events, and seminars.

The funding received has supported the festival’s growing attendance and audience development activities. The International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival is an Arts & Culture finalist.

Congratulations to our 36 #GoodCausesAwards Finalists.

The work these inspirational organizations do is phenomenal, and has a real and meaningful impact on the communities and causes they so selflessly support.

See the Finalists: https://t.co/ig0PLe6pnR pic.twitter.com/7OJBEkAs92

— The Irish National Lottery (@NationalLottery) February 15, 2021

Awards Chairperson, Nuala Carey, spoke of the incredible challenge that the panel faced in deciding on winners for each of the categories: “We were in total awe of each of the 36 finalists after seeing their presentations. It’s no easy feat being asked to do a presentation remotely but each of the groups really took the task in their stride and highlighted all of the wonderful work being done in every corner of the country with the help of National Lottery Good Causes funding.

“Each of the finalists truly are doing amazing work within their communities and if we could give them all an award, we would! I wish all 36 finalists the best of luck on the day.”

More information on the finalists and the National Lottery Good Causes Awards is available here.