Community Initiative of the Year Award - Awards for Excellence 2023 - video Dailymotion

Tindle News

Jamie Horton from Castletown Town Commissioners speaks to Julie Blackburn after they won the Community Initiative of the Year Awards at the 2023 Media Isle of Man Awards for Excellence.

Transcript

00:00 I'm here with Jamie Walton, Chairman of Castletown Commissioners, who have won the Community

00:05 Award at our Awards for Excellence. Castletown, it's very much, it's one apart. What you've

00:14 done, you've done some very different things down there that have really made the community

00:20 sing and enjoy themselves together. Do you want to explain a bit about that?

00:25 Yes, I've always thought that Castletown is more than just a castle and we had a lovely

00:30 market square and it was being used as a car park and I thought it could be much better.

00:36 There's so much things we could do with a car park. It shouldn't be a car park. So we

00:43 asked the staff, the workers on the street, we've done surveys with them and asked what

00:48 do people want with Castletown Square and the overwhelming majority said that they wanted

00:55 to be a community space for the people of Castletown. So that's what we've tried to

00:59 achieve. We've made some tough decisions, we've made some controversial decisions, but

01:06 I feel that we're driving the town forward and I think the community space this summer

01:12 worked fantastically. We had the rugby on as well in the winter and it's just there's

01:16 so much that we can do with Castletown Square other than just being a car park.

01:20 Yes, because the whole community has really embraced it.

01:23 They have, yes.

01:23 They are out there in the evenings with their kids, they're having a drink, they're playing

01:28 table tennis.

01:29 Table tennis and all sorts of things.

01:31 Playing the piano.

01:32 And it's a safe environment for families to sit, especially when it's a lovely day.

01:36 I know we don't get many of them, but when it's a lovely day Castletown Square is fantastic

01:40 and the backdrop of the castle.

01:42 Yeah, of course that makes it extra special.

01:44 It is so great and you can see the tourists coming to Castletown, they're having their

01:49 photograph taken in the square, you know, in the backdrop.

01:52 In the big deck chair.

01:53 Yeah, in the big deck chair, because you can't get out of it and try and sit in it.

01:56 Congratulations, well done.

01:59 Overwhelming, thank you very much.

02:00 Very good winner.

02:01 Thank you, cheers.

02:02 Cheers.

02:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Community Initiative of the Year Award - Awards for Excellence 2023

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