A Donegal school was today honoured at the Young Social Innovators of the Year Ireland (YSI) Awards for its positive impact in helping to create a more equal, fair and sustainable world.
Picking up the ‘Make Our World Healthier – Mental Health Award’, the team from Loreto Secondary School, Letterkenny was recognised for their ‘Peace of Minds’ project.
The Loreto Secondary School project team were passionate about promoting positive mental health in their community particularly during Covid-19.
The students’ innovative response to this issue involved a recognition campaign for local volunteers in association with the Donegal Volunteer Centre as well as the design of a printed and digital wellbeing calendar featuring suggested monthly activities to promote positive mental health.
Now in its 20th year, YSI focuses on empowering Ireland’s young people to reimagine the world and the communities they live in, by developing and implementing ideas that help create a fairer, more equal and sustainable world. Today’s Awards ceremony was compered by Virgin Media’s Zara King along with former Hometown member, and YSI Speak Out Tour Host, Dayl Cronin. It was a huge celebration of teenagers’ achievements in what has been a challenging year for students and their teachers.
This year’s YSI programme saw participation from 5410 Irish teenagers and the development of 354 innovation projects. 33 shortlisted projects competed for today’s headline and category awards.