Over €9,000 awarded to teams during a week of virtual events at YSI Social Innovation Den

Throughout the last week in March, Den panellists met 18 teams in a series of virtual events. Teams presented their social innovation action projects and pitched for a range of supports including financial aid, expert advice and skill-sharing. The week was split into a Dublin Den, a Regional Den and a Cork Den and the teams in attendance presented a range of issues including LGBTQ+ representation, fast fashion, poverty and inclusion, mental health, ASD supports, climate action, and plastic pollution.

Dublin Den Results

• Project Colour - Cabinteely Community School, Dublin 18: focussing on autism awareness and inclusivity, Project Colour presented their plans for a sensory garden at their school. With €800 awarded, the team plan to build the immersive garden in a disused courtyard at the school, creating a tranquil space for all students to escape the busy school environment.
• Clean World Clear Mind - St. Conleth's Community College, Newbridge, Co. Kildare: aiming to limit the use of plastic in their school community by raising awareness on climate change and recycling. They presented their plan to repurpose plastic bottle caps destined for landfill by melting them into new products and were awarded €600 funding for the equipment and PPE needed.
• YSI Environmentalists - The Donahies Community School, Dublin 13: raising awareness amongst young children on the importance of climate change reversal through recycling and biodiversity. The team presented their picture book which Ross Carvill is going to illustrate and was awarded €450 to cover the printing costs.
• Born This Way - St. Conleth's Community College, Newbridge, Co. Kildare: striving to make their school feel safe, comfortable and inclusive for all students. They presented their ideas to create pronoun pins so students and staff know how to address each other properly, and bathroom mirrors in every bathroom stall so that students wearing headscarves/hijabs can adjust them privately. €400 funding received will go towards an end-of-year fashion show celebrating diversity through games, music and food.
• Carry on Caring - Youthreach, Wicklow Town, Co. Wicklow: Having asked their local Direct Provision Centre how they could support residents, the team learned that transport and access to local shops were an issue. So they presented their plan to upcycle bikes from their local recycling centre for the residents and received €700 funding to help with repairs and parts as well as to arrange a training day with the residents to learn how to upcycle and maintain the bikes.
• Be Aware Don't Compare - Colaiste Bhride, Carnew, Co. Wicklow: addressing comparison culture and highlighting to young people that edited images online and in print media are not what ‘real’ people look like. They are launching a national petition for a change in legislation to have identifying symbols on edited images and have already been on local radio and newspapers to raise awareness of their cause. They are hoping to use the €1,000 funding have received at the YSI Den to spread their message on billboards in their local area.

Cork Den Results

• Making Poverty Our Priority - Eureka Secondary School, Kells, Co. Meath: working with their local Supervalu on care packages for those living in poverty. The innovative scheme allows customers at the supermarket to purchase extra items with their own groceries and then leave them at the store for them to be packaged up by the team and distributed to those in need. The team plan to roll out the scheme on a larger scale if it is a success locally. 
• There's Room for Relaxation - Carrigtwohill Community College, Cork: keen to help with growing anxiety issues at their school, the team There's Room for Relaxation have begun designing a sensory room at the school as well a website and booklet about anxiety and ways to alleviate it. Having researched the benefits of a sensory room and with support from their teachers and SNAs at their school, they are sure that this is a positive way to contribute to the well-being of their peers. They plan to use the €500 funding awarded at the YSI Den to furnish the sensory room, improve their website and publish their booklet.
• Finding the NEMO! - Beara Community School, Castletownbere, Cork: their goal is to learn about sources of anxiety for young people and in turn, educate their peers and school community. So as to reach as many people as possible in an accessible way, the team received €500 funding from the Social Impact Fund to design and print a series of posters on the topic. They will also provide distraction boxes for each year group area in the school, a tool for helping students when dealing with emotions or anxiety.
• One Punch Can Kill - St. Brendan's College, Killarney, Co. Kerry: alarmed at how little their school and local community knew about the culture of male violence and so they chose to focus their action on peer and community education. Their requests for support at the YSI Cork Den included funding to help publish an educational book they are writing, as well as informational posters for their school and businesses in the community. They were awarded €700 to fund their project initiatives.
• Outside In - Colaiste Chiarain, Limerick: promoting the benefits to children's mental health from having a large vocabulary as well as the skills to express themselves and also to listen to others. With support received at the YSI Cork Den, the team plan to develop an app for parents, teachers and young people alike that will equip them with the language and vocabulary needed to help with expressing feelings and emotions. They also plan to provide easily accessible resources and videos for users to educate themselves and better deal with their feelings and emotions.

Regional Den Results

• LGBTeens - Beech Hill College, Monaghan: aiming to make LGBTQ+ youth feel seen and safe by educating people on the LGBTQ+ community and how to be an ally. They have created a podcast series and have plans to produce a play to raise awareness. With the €400 funding received at the YSI Regional Den, they are planning to produce a children's book that talks about being the perfect ally.
• RACE - Right Attitude Creates Equality - Largy College, Monaghan: tackling racism and inequality to make their community a more inclusive place for all. With €500 funding received, they plan to print a cookbook called A Taste of Humanity, which aims to bring people together through an equal love for food with recipes contributed by members of their school and the wider community. They also plan to use the funding to create a multi-cultural day for their local primary school to promote diversity through food, games, dance and music.
• Safe Haven - The Convent of Mercy, Roscommon: raising awareness of the dangers of unmonitored algorithms on social media that show young people toxic and harmful content. The team has started an online petition for the new media bill to require any technology giant operating in Ireland to sign a pledge to be transparent about what algorithms they use on their platform. Over the coming months, YSI will facilitate mentoring support to help raise awareness of their cause and promote their petition.
• No Place like Home - Loreto Secondary School, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal: campaigning for the wellbeing of their friends, family and community members whose lives have been affected by the Mica scandal. Bringing a young person's perspective to the campaign, they are creating a song and music video to raise awareness of the devastating impact of Mica and also producing informational packs. €500 funding from the YSI Regional Den will help the team produce these resources and distribute them within their community.
• Sustain4Life - Rosses Community School, Donegal: passionate about sustainability, this team are on a mission to fight fast fashion. They applied for support from the Social Impact Fund to help develop a website to sell preloved clothing, having had success with their Swap Shop events. They are keen to demonstrate the value of avoiding fast fashion and protecting the future of our planet. They were awarded €300 to support their project development.
• Commotion in the Ocean - Abbey Vocational School, Donegal: the team has launched a campaign to combat plastic pollution and protect marine life. They want to play their part in reversing the damaging effects of modern life. They have designed resource packs that they intend to distribute to primary schools across Donegal with funding awarded at the YSI Den.
• Silver Linings - Dundalk Grammar School, Louth: keen to support the neurodivergent students in their school, or indeed anyone whose mental health may be suffering due to the hectic schedule of their day. They are designing a sensory room at the school and also piloting mental health breaks where a class on the timetable is replaced with sport or a coffee break so a student may take some time for themselves. Funding awarded from the Social Impact Fund at the Den will go towards furnishing the sensory room with second-hand furniture, so as to keep the project as sustainable as possible.