Topnationalawardfor MyStreetswalkingtour
THEY’VE seen some darker times in their lives, but it was a time to celebrate for the My Streets Homeless Walking Tours last week, as they won a Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards Night in the Mansion House.
The Drogheda-based initiative, which sees men and women who have experienced homelessness retrain as tour guides, was announced as one of eight national winners in the prestigious national awards.
Co-ordinator Austin Campbell told the Drogheda Independent they are incredibly honoured, and it is a testament to all the hard work that has gone into the project since it started four years ago.
“We feel incredibly lucky to be recognised by the amazing SEI for the work we do in empowering people affected by homelessness and look forward to availing of their considerable support to expand into a number of locations in Dublin over coming months,” said Austin.
I would just like to say many thanks to all of our supporters for making what we do possible. We could not what we do without you and look forward to working with you all into the future!”
Now in its 14th year, the SEI Awards seek social entrepreneurs with big ideas to solve Ireland’s social problems. Hundreds of applications were received, and a rigorous selection process identified eight winning social entrepreneurs for 2018.
“We have actually known since March that we won the award, so it has been very hard to keep it a secret,” he says with a laugh.
“It was quite a rigourous process, with two Dragon’s Denstyle pitches and interviews, and we were really put though the hoops!”
Since the awards began, funding of over €7m has been invested from private sector donors through SEI to support these initiatives that aim to tackle issues impacting Irish society.
This funding is matched with non-financial support, equivalent to over €2.1m, that includes coaching, mentoring, business development, training and probono support from some of Ireland’s leading corporate
“To win is a great honour and it was very special to be able to bring up the guides and their families to what was a great evening,” he adds.
“It not only comes with financial support, but also professional support, and it will really help and enable us when moving into different regions now.”