Homelessness in Ireland

Raise Homelessness awareness and donate to charities

Our Social Issue

Homelessness in Ireland

Why We Chose It

Wechose homelessness as our focus because it's a stark reality affecting millions, yet often overlooked by society. Witnessing the increasing number of homeless individuals in our community, we felt a compelling duty to act. Homelessness represents not just the absence of housing but a complex web of social, economic, and health-related issues. By addressing it, we aimed to highlight its multifaceted nature and encourage a more compassionate and informed response from our community. Our goal was to break down stereotypes, spread awareness, and contribute practical support, believing that change begins with understanding and empathy.

Our Goal

Our big idea centered on tackling homelessness through a blend of awareness, education, and direct action. By organizing a school sleep out, we aimed not only to raise significant funds for a local charity but also to simulate the experience of being homeless to foster empathy and understanding. We collected essential donations from our school community and arranged for a guest speaker with personal experience of homelessness to educate younger students. These efforts culminated in purchasing and distributing care packages for the homeless. Our initiatives sought to create a ripple effect, inspiring our community to engage actively in addressing homelessness.

Our Innovative Action

Our group organised a sleepout for the wider school community consisting of individuals from fourth and fifth year to participate. This action was in aid of Focus Ireland which raised just over €2,000 for their charity. We also made boxes to collect donations in for The Simon community which involved our school community contributing toys, food and clothes. We have taken action towards bringing in a representative and volunteer from the Simon community to give a speech to our first and second years by communicating with representatives from the Simon community.

Our Impact

We believe our group has made a positive difference through involving our school community in the actions we have taken towards raising awareness about homelessness. Having people in our school community bring in donations of food, clothes and toys has them in the mindset of considering others needs while the sleepout we organised had people physically in the setting of someone without a home to sleep in. We believe giving people in our school community this change in mindset has created a far more empathetic and therefore positive difference to our school community.