‘Dragons’ give Mallow students top funding for their YSI project

STUDENTS from three Cork schools secured €2,100 in funding through the Social Innovation Den hosted by Young Social Innovators in Cork City last week.

The students, who have been working on projects through Young Social Innovators since September, impressed the panel of ‘dragons’ with their creative ideas to effect positive change in their communities and wider society.

The team from Davis College, Mallow, received €800 for their project, ‘Mental Health: The Ripple Effect’, which aims to make their town more ‘mental health-friendly’. The students intend to invest their funding in creating a clothing line, a pop-up shop and permanent leaflet stand to raise awareness about mental health in their community.

Students from Beara Community School and North Presentation Secondary School, Cork, were awarded €700 and €600 respectively for their projects.

Just seven projects were invited to pitch at the YSI Den in Cork for a share of this year’s €10,000 social innovation fund. Young Social Innovators hosts the Den every year to support teenagers’ ideas to tackle social issues in an effort to create a fairer, more equal and sustainable world.

“It is fantastic to see young innovators developing and implementing creative solutions to create real change on the issues that matter to them,” said the CEO of Young Social Innovators, Rachel Collier. “We cannot wait to see how their social innovation projects progress with the support they have been granted today.”