The Glen, Limavady, is one of eleven housing areas announced as the latest participants in a major £1m initiative designed to support and encourage shared neighbourhoods across Northern Ireland.
Chair of the Glen's Community Association, Lexi Stewart, is delighted with the news. He told the Roe Valley Sentinel: "We all get on well here and by and large the community pull well together.
"This award is in recognition of all the work everyone does here and it will help us to keep that work going.
"We all help each other out and the motto of the Association is "Together we can do it". That sums it up
"We have been working with the Housing Executive, the police and other agencies and we now have the community house to base our activities in. As well as a lot of activities here, we have plans to decorate the building with murals in the near future."
The Association started up in 2000 and the first formal committee started work in 2001. Lexi, now 72 years of age, was in the original committee and still has a very active role in everything that goes on.
Along with Adrian Guy and the rest of the committee he helps to support activities for young and old in the Glens area.
Lexi said: "Over the years we worked and fought hard to get grants and to get the community centre.
" We have always worked with other local groups to see what was available and used their experiences to help our group.
"At the minute we have a grant towards murals at the centre and they should be up soon. Who knows, with this award maybe we could even enlarge the centre."
The Shared Neighbourhood Programme was launched by the International Fund for Ireland and the Department for Social Development in August 2008, to work with existing communities with the aim of developing 30 shared neighbourhoods over a three year period.
The Programme's second phase was announced last week in Holywood, and included the news that the Glen Estate was one of the second batch of areas designated.
Speaking at last week's launch, Denis Rooney, Chairman of the International Fund for Ireland said: "What makes the Shared Neighbourhood Programme special is that it focuses on the strengths, successes and lessons learnt by such communities who already quietly working away to bring about change and to build shared neighbourhoods where everyone is accepted and respected.
" The decision to 'share' is made by the community and then supported by the Programme, recognising that community ownership is key to changing the norms and offering real and positive choices for the future."
Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie MLA said: "The communities who have stepped up to participate in the Shared Neighbourhood Programme are translating the wish of the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland into a reality. These communities have demonstrated that sharing works, and that they are enriched by the experience."
Those attending the launch event heard that the Glen Estate, Limavady, was built by the Housing Executive. It is situated on the periphery of Limavady town and contains 267 houses made up of bungalows, flats and houses. 49.4% of the community are from a Catholic background and 49.4% are from a Protestant background.
The biggest achievement for the Association to date has been securing two bungalows from the Housing Executive to provide a community facility for the residents of the estate. This has allowed the group to run a number of programmes such as youth diversion, sewing classes, flower arranging, community safety initiatives, advice clinics, IT programmes, art classes and drama.
The Association has also been instrumental in providing annual fun days, community dances/festivals, community clean ups and programmes with the NI Probation Service. They work closely with local voluntary and statutory agencies and meet regularly to discuss problems in the area from a social, housing, environmental and policing perspective.
The inclusion of the Glens in the Shared Neighbourhood Programme is recognition of the tremendous work that has been done and it is hoped that the Shared Neighbourhood Programme will create opportunities and bring a new focus to the residents and community representatives of the Glens.