YSI
Young Social Innovators is an extra curricular charity group within school that you have to be selected to be apart of. It is a great opportunity that we have to help within the community and its different than anything I've ever done before in school. Our group has chosen the topic of homelessness to try to tackle this year. We selected homelessness because it such a growing problem within Ireland and especially our community. In the months of only September and October there have been two deaths of homeless people in the area of Bray. As a group we hope to help out within our own community and make an impact on homeless people's life's. Throughout the year we will be having guest speakers in talking to us and the school and we have already had Mr. Francis Doherty, who is the head of communications in Peter McVerry's trust. Within the next two weeks we also have speakers from focus Ireland coming in on Thursday the 30th of November. Other students and I in our group are also using these opportunities to apply to our Gaisce for our community work. In our transition year experience we have been asked to go Gaisce and 95% of students are participating in this program . In the upcoming months of YSI, we hope to have a speaker from Focus Ireland to come in and talk to us. Focus Ireland help families, young people and children at risk or affected by homelessness. On the 30th of November we have organised to have a cake sale in the school. Will we fundraise money for various charities that work with people affected by homelessness. In December and coming up to Christmas we also hope to do a clothes appeal , carol singing in Dublin City and our idea of dignity bags. Dignity bags is one way that we hope to help the homeless. We would fill a bag with unperished goods, sanitary goods, as well as wipes and hats and scarfs. We hope that these dignity bags will be really effective and will increase the sanitation, hygiene and general wellbeing of the many homeless people in Ireland today. On the 14th of December we have a whole school bazaar. Many activities and stalls are set up around the school and we will to fundraise money. We will have a stall where we will speak about our project and hopefully have a bake sale .
BAZAAR- bake sale
As part of YSI for the Christmas Bazaar we held a cake sale. The money that we raised went directly to TIGLIN, a charity which we have been working with through our YSI project. TIGLIN help people come off addictions. We raised —- in the bake sale and a total of —- in the bazaar. The contribute to the bake sale I made cupcakes!
As well as working at the bake sale, adele and I were assigned a game to play. The game was called Poke. There was 50 cups pinned into a notice board and the top of them was covered with green crep paper. The player had to use a meter stick to stab a hole into the creche paper, if there was a green X on the bottom of the cup, you won a prize. This was really fun to work at and I really enjoyed the bazaar.
As well as working at the bake sale, adele and I were assigned a game to play. The game was called Poke. There was 50 cups pinned into a notice board and the top of them was covered with green crep paper. The player had to use a meter stick to stab a hole into the creche paper, if there was a green X on the bottom of the cup, you won a prize. This was really fun to work at and I really enjoyed the bazaar.
Carol Singing
On Thursday the 21st of December, the YSI group went into St.Stephens Green Shopping Centre to carol sing for Peter Mc Verry. Unfortunately all of our choir members had to practice for the carol service and couldn’t come with us! We weren’t the best group of singers but we managed to raise over a thousand euro. It was a really fun experience and the Peter McVerry foundation really appreciated what we were doing.
Dignity Bag Pack
This December the YSI committee and I have been organizing dignity bags. Dignity bags is one way that we have helped the homeless through YSI. We asked each year group to bring in certain sanitary and food items as well as warm clothes. On Tuesday the 19th of December we filled over 70 bags with unperished goods, santiary goods as well as wipes, hats and scarfs. We contacted Tiglin an addiction organization based in Dublin who work with dignity bags on their NoBucks bus. We gave our dignity bags to Tiglin who will then distribute them to the homeless. We hope that these dignity bags were effective and will increase the sanitation, hygiene and general wellbeing of the many homeless people in Ireland today.
YSI Speak Out
On Tuesday the 20th of March the YSI committee traveled to Dun Laoghaire to participate in the YSI speak out. There was YSI committees from different schools throughout the country at the event. There was schools from Wicklow, Dublin, Louth, Carlow and Kilkenny. Each school committee had to prepare a play or presentation, which they perform in front of a panel of judges as well as the other schools. In the weeks leading up to the YSI speak out, we met to prepare our performance. Our play highlighted the stereotyping of homeless people in Ireland today. Lilykate and Ben talked about our project and everything we have done throughout TY in YSI. Our play was a success and I have attached a video of the performance below. My role in the play was as a volunteer from St. Vincet de Paul. I help a homeless women to get back on her feet. After our performance, we all went to McDonalds. It was a great day and it was really interesting to watch the other schools perform and learn what their project was about.