Past and present ‘ChangeMakers’ are encouraged to come together at An Grianán Hotel in Burt next Thursday as the Donegal community group celebrate their 10th anniversary.
ChangeMakers, an initiative led by Inishowen Development Partnership (IDP), that later partnered with Self-Help Africa, Donegal ETB, Trócaire and Concern was established to raise awareness on global issues, such as sustainability, climate change, gender equality and Fairtrade locally.
Over the last ten years, ChangeMakers has become embedded in the local community, running community garden projects, helping towns such as Moville and Carndonagh, achieve Fairtrade status, as well as running workshops on the environment, waste, refugees and climate justice.
The Seeds of Change Grant programme has allowed ChangeMakers to provide a small grant aid to community groups and initiatives, such as Ethical April, which highlights issues such as sustainable fashion and plastic pollution, and the Inishowen River’s Trust, which is working on biodiversity projects such as eel migration and habitat loss.
Denise McCool from IDP, Crona Gallagher from Donegal ETB and Patsy Toland from Self Help Africa came together to start up ChangeMakers, after realising the work they were doing around schools in Inishowen needed to be highlighted in the wider community.
“The idea of ChangeMakers is that anything that is a global issue such as climate change and refugees, is a local issue here in Donegal,” said Patsy.
“I know from my time working with Self-Help Africa, when it comes down to it, people are just the same- their problems are our problems. It’s always about connecting the local with the global.”
Joanne Butler, Development Officer with ChangeMakers, said that there is a great amount of pride within IDP that ChangeMakers have gotten to the point.
“We are all very happy that ChangeMakers has gotten to this milestone but seeing local community groups and individuals take action is what we as an organisation are most proud of,” she said.
The 10th anniversary celebrations get underway next Thursday, the 9th of June, at An Grianán Hotel in Burt from 9am-2pm. It will give fellow ChangeMakers, as well as Seeds of Change participants, community groups, partners and funders, a chance to reconnect.
Bébhinn Mullins will be outlining her ‘ChangeMakers journey’, as well as Zimbabwe national Sikhanyisile Dube, who is passionate about climate change and sustainability.
Booking the event is advised, with tickets being free of charge. For more information, search ‘ChangeMakers 10 years’ on Eventbrite or follow this link: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/celebrating-10-years-of-ChangeMakers-donegal-tickets-339774674197
