So we narrowly avoided a local lockdown last week; not least due to the combined effort of so many organisations in Newry, headed up by Newry Mourne and Down Council, to spread the message to flatten the curve.
We are certainly not out of the woods and with some clarity from the Chancellor as to support which would be given to businesses forced to close; though not near enough, it is highly likely that this will be a driver in the decision to put Northern Ireland back into lockdown or not.
Another lockdown would be just devastating for business, but very difficult decisions have to be made in the coming days. It is an unenviable task because regardless of what decisions are made there will be a human cost.
I still believe, however we each have an individual and collective responsibility to make a difference. By the time of going to print we should have a better idea of how our next few weeks are looking. At this stage I am not very optimistic for a positive outcome for anyone.
I always like to balance these articles with some level of positivity however, because in reality there is not a lot out there at the moment.
This week’s positivity is for Newry BID- Newry Business Improvement District, who last week picked up an Island wide award for Newry. I know it will be mentioned elsewhere in the paper, but BID secured a €10,000 windfall in the Bank of Ireland ‘Begin Together’ Awards. These awards recognised towns and cities who have come together to respond to Covid.
I have had the opportunity to get to know a lot more about Newry BID recently doing a little bit of work with them and I have been so impressed.
I have been involved in Newry Chamber for many years and proudly served as President for two years. Through my experience with the Chamber (which I will talk about in the coming weeks) I have always been so proud of the joined-up Newry approach. So many individuals and organisations are committed to the betterment of Newry. We are well known for our people putting aside their own differences to row together for the greater good.
In recent years I would absolutely add Newry BID to that team of people. Eamonn Connolly and his very small team are out there day in day out dealing with the micro, granular details of business in our city centre. From street cleaning to signage to social media, their statistics speak for themselves.
During Covid -19 however I really think they have stepped up to the plate in supporting our city. I don’t know if people realise the half of the work that goes on behind the scenes in BID, the Chamber, the Council, NMEA and many, many others to keep our city moving forward.
During the last six months BID has helped 93 businesses to access lockdown grants totalling £1.2million in support. Many of these were small, independent businesses who may not have know how to access this support on their own. They assisted 33 shops with shop front grants access totalling more than £100,000 helping to support how our city centre street looks. They helped with Covid Recovery grant application forms for more than 250 businesses which will hopefully result in additional support into the city centre in the coming months.
BID also helped more than 100 businesses through the rates revaluation process and provided free social distancing signage for more than 125 businesses. This type of support, which coupled with day to day activities, like putting more than 700 people in 160 businesses through free training courses in the last 12 months; providing free mystery shopping for more than 75 members and free parking at North Street for city centre workers and shoppers doesn’t go unnoticed on unwelcomed.
BID is just one cog in Newry’s wheel which consists of many different support organisations for business and community. It’s very clear that for the foreseeable future and beyond we need all these cogs to be turning together in the same direction, at the same speed to ensure that we make it through this pandemic, mourning every tragic life lost, but with the ability to pick ourselves up and start again with some sort of optimism and hope for the future.
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