Students from Loreto Secondary School, Letterkenny, secured €300 in funding through a virtual Social Innovation Den hosted by Young Social Innovators in Cork.
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.
Students pitched their project ‘Reuse it or Lose it’, focused on reducing the amount of plastic waste within their community. The team will invest their funding in raising awareness about recycling plastic and hope to work alongside a company to reintroduce glass milk bottles in their local area.
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. A further eleven projects pitched at a second YSI Den event in Dublin.
The teams pitching at this year’s YSI Dens addressed a range of issues, including mental health and wellbeing, revitalising green spaces, reducing plastic consumption, social inclusion and disability access, care for older people, sustainable fashion and climate change. Over 7,000 students throughout Ireland are currently involved in similar projects with Young Social Innovators in 2020.
CEO of Young Social Innovators, Rachel Collier, said: “It is fantastic to see young innovators developing and implementing creative solutions to create real change on the issues that matter to them. The teams presenting at this year’s Den have impressed and inspired with their creative ideas, professional pitches and plans for effecting positive change in their communities and beyond. We cannot wait to see how their social innovation projects progress with the support they have been granted today, provided by a generous philanthropic supporter of Young Social Innovators.”
Students from Loreto, Letterkenny, were pictured pitching their YSI project, ‘Reuse it or lose it’ to the panel of Den dragons via Skype. The team plan to use the social innovation funding to raise awareness about recycling plastic and work alongside a company to reintroduce glass milk bottles in their local area.
