Other News In Brief

Public Reminded To Make Use Of RAPID Bins

As Operation Season's Greetings gets underway in Derry City and Strabane, police and partners are highlighting the importance of the RAPID bins located across the area.

RAPID stands for Remove All Prescription and Illegal Drugs and is a community safety initiative designed to promote the removal of all prescription medication and illegal drugs. The service is completely anonymous and anyone can use the bins to safely dispose of unused or out of date medicines and illegal drugs. The bins are emptied regularly and the drugs destroyed.

Just this week, officers from Ballyarnett Neighbourhood Team discovered a set of digital scales and a bag of powder in one of the bins.

Neighbourhood Sergeant McCollum said: "Whether this was a concerned parent, partner or friend or disposed of by the owner themselves, we would like to reassure you that the items will be destroyed and no further action taken. The bins are an important part of our partnership response to reduce the negative impact of substance abuse and tackle harm and criminality within the community."

Councillor Sandra Duffy, Chair of the Derry and Strabane Policing and Community Safety Partnership, commented: "This deposit shows the effectiveness of having the RAPID drugs bins located in our communities. Since their installation in October 2018, over 26,000 prescription tablets and capsules have been removed from use.

"I am delighted that our partnership with police and Public Health Agency has enabled us to install 13 of these bins across the city and district and I am encouraged by their usage by our community. This initiative shows tangible delivery on the action in the Ballyarnett Local Growth Plan that 'we live in safer communities.' I would encourage the public to continue to avail of this initiative which is totally anonymous."

The bins are located in the following locations: Bishop Street Community Centre; Old Library Trust; Gasyard Centre; Hamilton's Spar, Castlederg; McKenna's Spar, Sion Mills; Northside shopping centre; Shantallow Community Residents Association; HURT offices, Clarendon Street; Ballymagroarty/Hazelbank Community Partnership; Haughey's Costcutter, Strabane; Tescos, Lisnagelvin.

NI Students Get Taste Of Life As An Entrepreneur

Year 12 pupils from the Ards and North Down area have been given a taste of what life as an entrepreneur would be like for Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Ards and North Down Borough Council, in partnership with Young Enterprise, hosted a 'desk to boardroom' workshop at Bangor Aurora last week for over 70 pupils, which promoted entrepreneurship as a career option for post-primary pupils.

Representatives from Prince's Trust, South Eastern Regional College, Social Enterprise Northern Ireland and Young Enterprise were also on hand for some informative Q&A sessions.

Students delved into the world of business ownership and after an inspirational insight into the journey of the event's keynote speaker, Aimee Clint, who is one of Northern Ireland's youngest entrepreneurs, each pupil took part in a group task where they had to create a new business idea.

The Mayor of Ards and North Down, Alderman Bill Keery, said: "We want to inspire the next generation to establish their own businesses in the borough. The Council has an ambitious target of creating 7,500 new jobs by 2030 and the entrepreneurs of tomorrow will help to achieve that aim.

"The Global Entrepreneurship event provided a great opportunity for students to think 'outside the box'. They had to decide what products or services they were going to offer, where their business would be located, how they would promote it and how much they were going to charge for it. It was a really productive day and they all managed to devise some really good, viable business ideas."

With prizes up for grabs, students worked in groups in an attempt to claim the awards for Best Idea, Best Presentation and Best Overall Idea. They were judged by representatives from Young Enterprise and Ards and North Down Borough Council.

Winners included Holywood Steiner School (Best Presentation), Bangor Grammar School (Best Idea and Best Overall Idea) and Nendrum College (Runner-Up, Best Overall Idea).

NI Firm Wins UK-Wide Business Award

A Northern Ireland construction firm has beat off competition from companies across the UK to claim a prestigious business award.

Magherafelt-based Henry Brothers was named Family Business of the Year at the Annual Business Awards in London last week by the British Chambers of Commerce.

The Chamber Business Awards, now in its 16th year, is one of the showpiece events in the business calendar, highlighting the role of business in delivering growth and prosperity for the UK and local communities.

The local business went on to win the national award after its success in the Northern Ireland heat of the competition earlier this year.

The judging panel praised Henry Brothers for its impressive turnover and profit over the last three years, while staying true to the values that Jim Henry founded the company on in 1976. They were congratulated as a business, operating in a challenging sector, and their family values shone through; their ethos of cooperation, fairness and mutual support is admirable.

Speaking about the win David Henry, Managing Director of Henry Brothers, said: "This award is testament to the hard work and effort that my father, Jim, has put into the business since he started it over 40 years ago and the pride that we as the second generation have in taking it forward.

"This is not just an award for the family but for our employees, past and present, that have helped us become the company that we are today.

"We are surrounded by a fantastic team of people who take the threads of our ethos, values, morals and standards and weave them through every part of the business, which is evident for all to see. We will continue to deliver the best construction solution we possibly can for every client, every time, without fail – That's what makes us Altogether Stronger."



(JG/CM)