Ross Mullis Byrne, Owen Mullis Byrne and Elliott Cowley from Rosses Community School in Dungloe who were awarded funding through the Young Social Innovators’ Den programme.
FOUR teams of young people from Donegal have proven their social innovation credentials and have won funding from the Young Social Innovators(YSI) backed by IBM.
Two of the winning teams are from the Rosses Community School, Dungloe, one team from Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana and the fourth from the Abbey Vocational School in Donegal Town.
All four teams recently pitched for support for their projects before a YSI Den panel of representatives from IBM, Community Foundation Youth Panel, Education Authority NI, EirGrid and Cork City Council, to enable them to access Social Impact Fund support to advance their initiative.
The successful teams can request three types of support for their projects — money, means and mentoring.
Ross Mullis Byrne, Owen Mullis Byrne and Elliott Cowley from Rosses Community School pitched their project Movement Matters, which is aiming to address the negative impacts of gaming on young people by promoting physical activity through sports and other outdoor activities.
The team was awarded €400 to fund a bicycle rack in their school and an outdoor games area.
Another Rosses Community School group, consisting of Maggie McDyer, Zoe Mc Cauley and Connlaith Boyle, will receive €500 for their project to support those affected by endometriosis.
Their project, titled Get to Know your Endo, hopes to get endometriosis better recognition in schools and medical sectors by addressing the limited information on the health condition.
The group were afforded funding and mentoring to help them create information booklets and continue their work.
Students Patrick Doherty, Patric McBride and Ryan Farnan from Scoil Mhuire in Buncrana were awarded support for their Plastic Warriors project for which they are collecting and reusing plastic bottles.
They received YSI Den funding of €250 to help them make bird feeders for the local park, and create jewelery and decorations from reused plastic bottles.
Students Laila Mullen, Kelly Lindsay and Lauren McNulty from Abbey Vocational School, Donegal town received €500 for their The Bees’ Needs project.
The funding will help them plant flowers, foliage and bee hotels around their school and local area, and raise awareness about bees and wildlife preservation.
Congratulating the Donegal students, Roger Warnock, CEO, Young Social Innovators, said: “The students from Rosses Community School, Abbey Vocational School and Scoil Mhuire in Buncrana are exemplary young social innovators, and we are delighted to help them get their projects up and running to bring about positive change in their communities. Our Den panellists rewarded these young people for their ability to develop sustainable, high-impact projects, as well as for their passion for social innovation.”
For more information about Young Social Innovators, see www.youngsocialinnovators.ie.
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere
SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT EDITION TODAY
and get access to our archive editions dating back to 2007(CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE)