COUNCILLOR Diana Armstrong officially ended her time as Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council last Tuesday, June 1, with a series of events at Darling Street, Enniskillen.

Councillor Armstrong visited the Jolly Sandwich Bar with local clergy, Monsignor Peter O’Reilly and Dean Hall, before venturing to Headhunters Railway Museum and the Aisling Centre.

Councillor Armstrong was visiting the two organisations to officially mark Volunteers’s Week 2021.

While visiting Headhunters, Councillor Armstrong also officially opened the new ‘Ladies Waiting Room’ and ‘Station Master’s Office’ at the railway museum.

The Chairman of Headhunters museum, Selwyn Johnston, said: “We were absolutely delighted to have Councillor Armstrong visit the railway museum during National Volunteers’s Week to see the new exhibits that our volunteers have lovingly created, which will enhance the visitor experience.”

Headhunters Railway Museum volunteers were recognised with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2017, and Selwyn added that the museum greatly values the contribution volunteers make, giving their time, skills and talents while sharing their passion of local railway heritage.

Also thanking Councillor Armstrong was Aisling Centre’s Chairperson, Alison Annan, who said: “Having the chair of the Council, Councillor Diane Armstrong, visit Aisling Centre was a lovely way to mark Volunteers’s Week, and to recognise the wonderful work of our many volunteers and the wider community who support the centre.

“It was also an opportunity to say thank-you for the support Aisling Centre receives from the Council on an ongoing basis, most particularly during this time of a global pandemic.

“Perhaps most importantly, it also provided a space to discuss mental health and the growing need locally [for mental health services] as we come out of lockdown. Already Aisling Centre is seeing an increase in demand for counselling, particularly among young people and men.”

Councillor Armstrong said: “As Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, it is my great pleasure to officially launch Volunteers’s Week 2021.

“Volunteers’s Week is a campaign that takes place each year from June 1 to 7, to recognise and thank volunteers and to celebrate volunteering in all its diversity.

“Over this past year, it has been a privilege for me to have seen how the people and the community in Fermanagh and Omagh stepped forward to help those who needed it most, with people volunteering in roles such as delivering medicines, shopping, food parcels and checking in on their neighbours all across the district.

“I am delighted to have this opportunity, on my last official day in office, to launch Volunteers’s Week and to send my sincerest thank-you to each and every volunteer for their selflessness and dedication.

“To those of you who not only have donated your time in response to the pandemic, but who also carry out selfless acts of kindness all year round, every year, your contribution is crucial to many organisations and a vital part of a thriving community,” she added.