Young Social Innovators of the Year Ireland Awards 2022 - The Winners

The winners of the Young Social Innovators of the Year Ireland Awards 2022 were announced during an online broadcast on 12th May that celebrated thousands of young people who, supported by passionate educators, contributed to their communities in creative ways through YSI. 

Hosted by Virgin Media's News Correspondent, Zara King and former Hometown band member and YSI Speak Out Tour MC, Dayl Cronin, the event  recognised and celebrated the efforts of Ireland's young people to creating positive change on the social issues they care about.

We are delighted to announce that the winners of Young Social Innovators of the Year Ireland Awards 2022 are:

Gold Award Winner

No Place Like Home

The national Young Social Innovators of the Year 2022 Gold Award went to the YSI team from Loreto Secondary School, Letterkenny for its ground-breaking No Place Like Home project, which aims to raise awareness and campaign for redress on behalf of those affected by the mica crisis. The students used their #NoPlaceLikeHome campaign to highlight the devastating impact of the crisis on the wellbeing, relationships, work and school life of those impacted, particularly on young people within their school and local community and brought a strong youth voice to an issue that has dominated the headlines in recent months. The judges were struck by the passion, determination and activism demonstrated by the teenagers who endeavoured to show the human stories and experience behind the mica crisis including of young people and their families who had lost or are at risk of losing their homes.
Prize Fun Bursary: €2,000

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Silver Award Winner

The Food Fund

Picking up the national Silver Award, the team from Terence MacSwiney Community College, Knocknaheeny, Co. Cork, was recognised for its The Food Fund project. The innovative project aims to reduce food waste and combat food poverty in the local community by redistributing unused meals to those in need. The team was aware that food poverty was a very real issue affecting ordinary families across Cork and the students believed that leftover lunches in its school were a resource that could be used to help. The students donated unused meals, sandwiches, biscuits, and fruit  through Penny Dinners, a Cork-based charity, in an effort to keep this food out of landfill. Planning for the future, the team has developed a prototype for an app to help manage and track the donations.
Prize Fun Bursary: €1,000

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Bronze Award

Operation Red

Picking up the national Bronze Award, the team from St. Brigid's Secondary School, Killarney was recognised for its Operation Red project. The team’s focus was on raising awareness about the lack of knowledge surrounding menstrual disorders and encouraging an open discussion on these issues, so no woman ever feels alone. Concerned about misinformation on social media platforms in relation to dealing with menstrual disorders, the team aimed to educate their peers about their reproductive health, highlight some of the most common warning signs that can potentially disrupt daily life, and signpost available supports should they be needed.
Prize Fun Bursary: €750

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Challenge Award Winners

Climate Action & Energy Award

Presented by   


Winner
Commotion in the Ocean, Abbey Vocational School, Donegal Town, Co. Donegal
This YSI team brings awareness on how people can reduce their carbon footprint and reduce the amount of pollution that is entering into our seas and oceans damaging marine life.

Highly Commended
Sustain4life, Rosses Community School, Dungloe, Co. Donegal
This YSI team decided to tackle the issue of sustainability organising swap shops and creating an educational website with tips on how to reduce fast fashion.

Strong and Caring Communities Award  

Presented by 

Winner
Project Colour,  Cabinteely Community School, Cabinteely, Dublin 18
This YSI team is promoting inclusion and helping students in their school with ASD through the creation of a sensory garden which provides a quiet tranquil place away from the overwhelming school environment.

Make Our World Healthier Physical Health
 

Presented by  

Winner
Social Reflection YSI, St. Mary's Secondary School, Convent of Mercy. Ballina, Co. Mayo
For this YSI Project, the team decided to promote body positivity alongside promoting healthy body image using the tag line "The way you speak to your body affects the way I look at mine" . They hoped that by holding different activities, they would raise awareness on the importance of body positivity and change how people speak about and look at their bodies.

Make Our World Healthier Mental Health  

Presented by

Winner
Safe Haven, Méanscoil Muire gan Smal, Convent of Mercy, Roscommon Town. Co. Roscommon
Hoping to raise awareness about the dangers of social media algorithms and the negative impact they have on young people's mental health, this team launched an awareness campaign and petitioned for more restrictions and transparency around algorithms.

Highly Commended
I Can, St. Joseph's Secondary School, Tulla, Co. Clare
In an effort to combat stress and anxiety amongst their peers, this team developed an innovative I-CAN tin containing advice, activities and information for young people to help them cope in tough times.

Make Our World a Better Place for Young People  

Presented by 

Winner
#whowearsthetrousers, Maryfield College, Drumcondra, Dublin 9
This YSI team has is leading a national campaign to see trousers made available as a uniform option for all female students not only in relation to comfort and practicality but also to make schools more inclusive for members of the LGBTQI+ community.

Highly Commended
Be Aware, Don’t Compare, Coláiste Bhríde, Carnew, Co. Wicklow
Concerned about the harmful impact of unrealistic beauty expectations perpetuated through social media platforms, this YSI team are campaigning for legislative change in relation to edited and photoshopped images which they argue should be clearly labelled as such when posted on social media.

Make Our Country More Inclusive and Poverty Free  

Presented by 

Winner
Making Poverty our Priority, Eureka Secondary School, Kells, Co. Meath
This team's big idea is to partner with supermarkets and organisations that aid people living in poverty to create and distribute sustainable care packages purhased for donation in participating stores.

Relationships & Sexual Health  

Presented by 

Winner
Words and How You Say Them Matter, John the Baptist Community School. Hospital, Co. Limerick
Determined that young people be equipped with the tools they need to communicate consent, this YSI team created lesson plans for use by SPHE teachers to empower and equip younger students with knowledge and awareness. They want to communicate the message of ‘words and how you use them’ matter.

Make Our World Fair and Just

Winner
Carry on Caring, Youthreach, The Murrough, Wicklow Town
Following consultation with the residents of Rathmore Direct Provision to find out how they could be supported, this compassionate YSI team set about securing bicycles to help residents gain easier access the local village as well as setting up upcycling and bike maintenance workshops to aid repairs.

Make Our World Safer

Winner
One Punch Can Kill, St. Brendan's College, Killarney. Co. Kerry
In an effort to combat toxic masculinity and to raise awareness amongst young males of the dangers of one punch, this YSI team embarked on a multifaceted campaign to promotetheir important message that 'One Punch Can Kill'.

Digital Innovators Award

Presented by 

Winner
Be Aware Don't Compare, Coláiste Bhríde, Carnew, Co. Wicklow
Concerned about the harmful impact of unrealistic beauty expectations perpetuated through social media platforms, this YSI team are campaigning for legislative change in relation to edited and photoshopped images which they argue should be clearly labelled as such when posted on social media.

Highly Commended
LGBTeens, Beech Hill College, Monaghan. Co. Monaghan
This team was passionate about promoting inclusion and an understanding of how we can all be better allies to the LGBTQI+ community through their innovative Queer and Allies podcast available on Spotify.

Global Citizens Award 

Presented by 

Winner
Carry on caring - Youthreach The Further Education Centre The Murrough Wicklow Town Co. Wicklow
Following consultation with the residents of Rathmore Direct Provision to find out how they could be supported, this compassionate YSI team set about securing bicycles to help residents gain easier access the local village as well as setting up upcycling and bike maintenance workshops to aid repairs.

Highly Commended
Freepair Ireland - Beech Hill College Monaghan Co. Monaghan
This YSI team chose to address the issue of e-waste and the potential of exisitng technnology to be used for longer if people had access to their devices' software along with the knowledge and the right to repair.

Social Media Award

Winner
No place like home!, Loreto Secondary School, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal  
This team was also announced as the overall Young Social Innovators of the Year 2022 for thier campaign to raise awareness and call for redress on behalf of those affected by the mica crisis.

Innovative Response to Covid-19 Award

Winner
Get out and Play - Coláiste Muire, Cobh, Co. Cork 
Witnessing an increase in poor mental health amongst their peers, this YSI team launched a campaign to promote club membership amongst young people in a bid to improve their activity levels, socialisation, community connection and overall wellbeing.

School Community Impact Award

Winner
Project Colour - Cabinteely Community School Cabinteely Dublin 18 
Also announced as the winner of the Strong and Caring Communities Award, this YSI team is promoting inclusion and helping students in their school with ASD through the creation of a sensory garden which provides a quiet tranquil place away from the overwhelming school environment.

YSI Fun- raising Award

Winner  
Little Lives - Coláiste Pobail Setanta Phibblestown Clonee Dublin 15 
This team wanted to raise awareness of premature babies and the difficulties families may face in these circumstances. The team organised knitting classes and engaged others in knitting hats for premature babies. It was also successful in its goal to raise funds and awareness for the Irish Neonatal Health Alliance (INHA) through several innovative initiatives that included a teacher shave and dye event.

Congratulations to all of our winners in 2022!!!