Five High Impact Projects Supported by the Social Impact Fund

From innovative products brought to market, to the production of educational resources, and the roll out of national campaigns, the YSI Social Impact Fund has supported over a hundred youth-led ideas through the YSI Den since 2010. These are five examples of high impact projects developed and led by young people that were supported with funding to help realise their ambition.

1. 3 D's (Drink, Drugs and Depression): The Boomerang Youth Café

The Boomerang Youth Café in Drogheda, Co. Louth opened its doors in 2013 and provides an award-winning service to young people in the Drogheda community. The café was the brainchild of a 2006 YSI team of students from Our Lady's College, Greenhills who, concerned about the prevalence of drink, drugs and depression amongst their peers began a campaign to see the realisation of a safe and inclusive space for teenagers.

2. Global Citizens Mapping the Future

The YSI Global Citizens Mapping the Future project was initiated in 2015 by students from Portmarnock Community School Dublin. It saw the creation of the first detailed online map for the Kingdom of Lesotho, a small enclaved country within the border of South Africa, that included street view and 3D viewing options. The creation of the map, using open an open source mapping programme and local volunteers, had a significant impact on outcomes related to emergency services, healthcare, ecological and infrastructure planning for the Kingdom of Lesotho.

3. Greener Globe

Greener Globe began life as a YSI project in Tullamore College, Co. Offaly in 2014. In a year that saw major public backlash against the proposed introduction of water charges in Ireland, these entrepreneurial students wanted to reduce water wastage in homes and contribute towards water conservation protecting this natural resource for future generations. Having identified the shower as the biggest source of residential water wastage, the team came up with an innovative shower head design to reduce the amount of time that people would spend in the shower.

4. Forget Me Not

Missing Persons Day is an annual day of commemoration and takes place on the first Wednesday in December in Ireland each year. It commemorates those who have gone missing and recognises the lasting trauma for their families and friends. It also draws attention to open or unsolved missing persons cases, and creates an opportunity to provide information on available support services.The introduction of this annual day of remembrance was the a result of the incredible Forget Me Not campaign - the YSI project of a team of students from Davis College in Mallow, Co Cork who, over several years, successfully raised awareness and lobbied for the establishment of the National Missing Persons Day in Ireland.

5. CAST (Caring About Society Together)

CAST Film Festival was born our of a YSI Project called Caring About Society Together, developed by students in Collinstown Park, Clondalkin. In 2017, CAST Film Festival was presented with the inaugural High Impact Award from Young Social Innovators in recognition of the significant impact it made to the lives of thousands of young people by engaging them in creative film-making around the theme of mental health in a bid to promote positive mental wellbeing.

The Social Impact Fund supports ideas created and led by young people to bring about positive social change and improve the wellbeing of people, communities and the environment.