Three local groups, among them the Lisnaskea Community and Tourism group, are sharing in a lottery windfall announced last week by Awards For All under the National Lottery's small grants scheme.
Almost £26,000 is coming to the three local groups as part of a grants' roll-out of nearly £580,000 to 86 groups across Northern Ireland.
Lisnaskea Community and Tourism Group is made up of representatives of voluntary, statutory, community and business organisations from the Lisnaskea area.
The money will now enable the group to undertake a community audit that will provide evidence of need for the community.
Erne Music Club (Belleek and District) secured £8,700 to promote traditional music in the area.
The group promotes traditional music amongst people living in the Belleek area of county Fermanagh. The project will increase participation through a range of musical classes.
Drumack Historical Association, Lisnaskea received £7,925. It provides historical, educational and recreational activities.
The grant will enable the group to hold a historical outing and install a new floor.
Brian Cosgrove, the Secretary of the Lisnaskea Community and Tourism Group said his group had been going for a year and were now beginning to make inroads.
"Until now, we hadn't the money to do anything', he explained. "We have joined up with the Fermanagh Lakeland Tourism website to secure a presence in the county. We meet once a month and there is always a very good attendance.
"Everybody is trying to pull together or, at least with one voice, you have more clout.
At the same time, all our constituent members keep plugging away at their own wee projects and, if any of the rest of us can help and they need manpower, we help each other out".
Brian explained that the lottery money would pay for the firm/person undertaking the audit and that once that was completed, his group would pick out priorities and work its way through them. He hoped that in 5-years' time that the audit Report would be of value.
"This money will make a huge difference", said Erne Music Club member, Bernadette McNulty. "When the club started six years ago, just six children came along, now we have 70. I looked around and saw that too many kids were going to grow up like me and not be able to play.
There's a much greater emphasis on this sort of thing across the border, for instance.
"The club is a real community effort", she went on. "It's cross community and it's brought parents together too. We have one grandfather in his 90s who is now able to play the fiddle with his little six-year-old grandchild. And, there are many people like him in the community who are only too pleased to pass on their knowledge."
The club will use the money to help teach youngsters a second musical instrument. "That's what came back when we asked the members what they wanted. It's been brilliant for their confidence, they're playing at the Christmas lights switch-on in Belleek, for example, and they play in the local Old People's Home too," said Bernadette."They took part in a local festival last year and won – needless to say, they sang the whole way home in the bus."
Clogher Valley Rugby Football Club has been awarded £1,110 to help it promote a range of training The grant will enable the Club to hold structured training and mentoring of volunteer coaches.
