Good causes come in all shapes and sizes, but what they all have in common at their very heart are, ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
The National Lottery Good Cause Awards seek to recognise these worthy individuals and groups each year and celebrate their work.
Now in its second year, more than 480 entries from around the country were submitted to the awards. From this pool, a panel of expert judges narrowed it down to 143 'Good Causes' that were named county winners.
Then just 36 regional winners were selected to progress through to the national final, a Gala Awards Dinner in Dublin on November 2.
A Traveller youth advocacy organisation, a heritage group based on a tiny island off the coast of Cork, Ireland's only dedicated publisher of books by children, a scuba diving club and an aerial dance troupe are amongst the finalists.
For more news on the National Lottery Good Causes Awards see here.

The awards celebrate work in six main categories: Sport & Recreation, Health & Wellbeing, Heritage, Arts & Culture, Community and Youth. A seventh category, Irish Language, has a special award to be announced on the night too, in recognition of outstanding work done to promote the Irish Language.
The National Lottery Good Cause Awards were created to honour and showcase the inspiring work being done in local communities across Ireland thanks to National Lottery Good Causes funding.
The Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team were the winner of the Sport & Recreation category in 2018. In this video, Ken Battigan recalls his incredible mountain rescue story:
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National Lottery CEO, Andrew Algeo, said the number and calibre of entries this year was fantastic.
'We were overwhelmed at the level of entries we received. Now in its second year, we had over 480 applications from every County in Ireland spanning all six categories,' he said.
'We want to show how people, organisations, projects and sports clubs are doing extraordinary things in their local communities. This is work that often goes unrecognized and through these Awards we aim to change that, and also help to highlight to the people of Ireland, the good that their participation and support of the National Lottery is having in local communities across Ireland.'
Nearly 30 cent in every €1 spent on National Lottery games goes back into the community and last year alone, more than €226 million was raised by participants of the National Lottery for good causes.
For more news on the National Lottery Good Causes Awards see here.
The National Lottery Good Causes Awards 2019 finalists are...

Dublin
Sport: Dalkey Scuba Divers
Health & Wellbeing: Dublin Rape Crisis Centre
Arts & Culture: Dance Theatre Ireland
Heritage: The School of Irish Archaeology
Community: Spinal Injuries Ireland
Youth: Sphere 17 Regional Youth Service
North (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan)
Sport: Liquid Therapy, Donegal
Health & Wellbeing: Rossinver Community Development Company, Leitrim
Arts & Culture: Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership, Sligo
Heritage: Donegal G.A.P Heritage & History Group, Donegal
Community: Breffni Community Development, Leitrim
Youth: Involve, Donegal
Midlands (Roscommon, Longford, Westmeath, Laois, Offaly)
Sport: Laois Sports Partnership, Laois
Health & Wellbeing: Cuisle Cancer Support, Laois
Arts & Culture: Helium Arts, Westmeath
Heritage: Abbeyleix Bog Project, Laois
Community: Shannonbridge Community Services Group, Offaly
Youth: YoYo Youth Café (Youth Work Ireland Midlands) Westmeath
South (Cork, Tipperary, Waterford, Kilkenny, Wexford)
Sport: St. Patrick's Snooker Club, Wexford
Health & Wellbeing: Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, Kilkenny
Arts & Culture: The Walls Project, Waterford
Heritage: Bere Island Projects Group, Cork
Community: Family Carers Ireland, Wexford
Youth: No Name! Club, Kilkenny
East (Louth, Meath, Kildare, Carlow, Wicklow)
Sport: Greystones Lawn Bowling Club, Wicklow
Health & Wellbeing: Irish Wheelchair Association Carlow
Arts & Culture: Centre For Creative Practices, Wicklow
Heritage: Tea Lane Graveyard Committee, Kildare
Community: Omeath District Development, Louth
Youth: Drogheda ABACAS Special School for Children with Autism, Louth
West (Mayo, Galway, Clare, Limerick, Kerry)
Sport: Lahinch Swim Club, Clare
Health & Wellbeing: Bergerie Trust, Limerick
Arts & Culture: Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Theatre, Limerick
Heritage: Ireland Reaching Out, Galway
Community: Social Action Group Rathmore, Kerry
Youth: Southhill Hub, Limerick