Two Loreto teams secure social innovation funding
TWO teams of students from Loreto Bray secured €400 in funding through the Social Innovation Den hosted by Young Social Innovators in Dublin on Monday.
The students, who have been working on their social innovation projects since September impressed the dragons with their professional pitches and their plans to support LGBTQ members of their community as well as those suffering with mental health issues.
One team, ‘Beyond the Closet Door’ is producing a book to promote the various support networks available to young LGBTQ people in the area. The team was awarded €200 to print copies of the book as well as to support a poster campaign to encourage support for LGBTQ youth in Wicklow.
The ‘Behind the Mind’ team are currently creating a short film addressing the issue of mental health. The team was awarded €200 from the Dragons to help to promote the film and to have it distributed in local schools and theatres.
Ten projects were shortlisted to pitch at the Dublin Den for a share of a €15,000 fund which Young Social Innovators makes available every year to support young people’s ideas to bring about positive change in society. A further nine shortlisted projects pitched at a similar Den event in Cork. All of the teams are taking part in Young Social Innovators through which they are challenged to come up with and implement creative ideas to tackle social issues in an effort to create a fairer, more equal and sustainable world.
The teams pitching at this year’s Dens addressed a range of issues including mental health, sustainable farming, direct provision, obesity, digital wellbeing, sexual consent and climate change. Almost 7000 students throughout Ireland are involved in similar projects with Young Social Innovators in 2019.
Eamon Quinn, who sat on the Dublin Dragon Panel, said: ‘ The passion and professionalism of the young innovators who pitched at this Social Innovation Den is comparable with that of many of the entrepreneurs I have met over the years. It is especially inspiring in this case where the innovations being developed are improving the lives of others and focused on the betterment of society. Young Social Innovators is giving teenagers opportunities to innovate for social good from an early age.’
CEO of Young Social Innovators, Rachel Collier, said: ‘We are delighted to be able to harness the passion and creativity of these young innovators to create real change on issues that matter to them. The quality of the pitches and the creativity of the ideas presented at the Den are extremely inspiring and we look forward to seeing how their ideas progress with the support granted.’