Final chance to vote for Court House in National Lottery Awards
4th October 2023
With just a few days to go before voting closes in the National Lottery Project of the Year award, the team at The Court House, Bangor, are hoping people will give the venue a last-minute vote, and help them bring the award to Northern Ireland for the first time.
Last month, the non-profit arts venue on Bangor seafront, which is owned and operated by local arts charity Open House, was named as one of 17 finalists from around the UK in the prestigious competition, the winner of which is decided by a public vote. It has never been won by a Northern Irish project.
As the venue celebrates its first anniversary in a couple of weeks, winning the award would be a fitting way to mark its birthday. It opened its doors to the public last October following seven years of fundraising, lobbying, planning and refurbishment, made possible with a major grant of almost £1 million from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
“Three years ago, this building was a long-term out of use Court House that had slid into severe disrepair,” said Open House Director, Kieran Gilmore. “A year on from opening, we have hosted around 1,000 artists, many of whom are based in Northern Ireland, and welcomed 35,000 people through our doors. We’d love to win this National Lottery award as a thank you to everyone who has taken the time to give us their vote and supported The Court House both in the past year and the previous years of funding and development, but even if we don’t, we will carry the weight of their endorsement with us for a long time.”
The winning project will be announced later in the year, with a cash prize of £5,000 going to the overall winner.
“The support we’ve had so far from the local community, our Court House and Open House audiences, artists, funders, and Bangor businesses, has blown us away,” said Open House Development Director, Alison Gordon. “There are some truly wonderful projects in the shortlist, including three other Northern Irish based initiatives, and it’s an honour to stand amongst them. But we would love to be the ones to bring the award here for the first time.”
Jonathan Tuchner, from the National Lottery, added: “We are excited to have such an incredible list of contenders for the National Lottery Project of the Year category at this year’s National Lottery Awards. It’s always an incredibly competitive category and this year is no different. Thanks to National Lottery players, more than £30 million goes to good causes across the country every week, making vital projects like these possible. So don’t forget to make your voice heard by voting for your Project of the Year in the National Lottery Awards – with your help, The Court House could be the winner.”
Voting closes at noon on Monday 9th October. To vote for Bangor Court House, please go to lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards. You can also vote on social media by visiting the Court House pages on Twitter or Instagram, or the National Lottery Good Causes Facebook page. You can repeat vote using all four platforms, but if you are voting on social media, you must comment under the relevant post using the hashtag #NLACourtHouseBangor. For full details on how to vote, visit the Court House website: courthousebangor.com/vote/
