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John The Baptist Community School, Hospital, Co. Limerick, 2013

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CATEGORY: Make Our World Safer Challenge

The Idea

Without hope for the future we have nothing. The aim was to save lives.

The Transition Year students at John the Baptist Community School in Hospital, Co. Limerick, have been running a road safety campaign since 2006.

The campaign was aimed at making Irish roads safer for all drivers. The motivation for the campaign was the high incidence of fatalities and critical injuries (especially involving young people) in the locality in recent years.

The Action

As well as working as a team with the YSI Guide and other students within the school, they also worked with school staff and external individuals including teachers, graphic designer Michelle McInerney, Fr. Sean Fennelly, a police officer from the Northern Ireland, Andrew Wilson, and John Duggan from Source magazine in Belfast.

There were 5 parts to this project:

  1. The Seat Belt Campaign: targeted to first years, also impacted the rest of the student body.
  2. Photography Competition: popular Facebook page, received over 100 entries.
  3. Road Safety Stamp: sent submission to Post Office.
  4. ‘Safe as Houses’: installation sent to Saatchi Gallery and featured on their web site. This created a huge buzz around the school and community.
  5. Road Safety Policy: sent to Department of Education and Science; aimed to be used by schools nationwide.

The Impact

The campaign went from the classroom blackboard to a nationwide campaign as a result of sheer hard work, commitment, a clear vision and belief in what the campaign was about. It was unique in the way it dealt with the issue of Road Safety.

Award Winner
2013 Young Social Innovators of the Year – Silver Award