Young Social Innovators change the world, one locality at a time

Over 20, 000 students have created projects with the support of Young Social Innovators (YSI) since it was founded 15 years ago. At the launch of a new partnership between YSI and Ulster Bank, co-founder Sr Stan Kennedy said the programme was now promoted globally to tackle local challenges.

“It’s about empowering young people to unlock the vast potential to tackle problems like homelessness, climate change, migration, racism, unemployment and our ageing population,” said Sr Stan at a breakfast event in the CHQ building in Dublin last month. Over 4,500 youth-led social innovation projects have been developed with the support of the programme since 2001. More recently, the YSI programme has been developed in Canada, Norway and Zambia.

In her characteristic call for support from the business community, Sr Stan said “innovation for its own sake is not enough”.

“We have seen all too often in Ireland, and elsewhere, innovations which benefit a few but are harmful or are out of reach to many. We need social innovation to be an integral part of innovation to build a more equal, inclusive and sustainable society – that is what social innovation can bring to us.”

Aidan O'Connell is a former young social innovator, now studying law at University College Cork. "Most teenagers are tuned in to what's happening around them, but when you're 15 or 16, most people don't care what you care about," he says. "The Young Social Innovator programme listens to them and gives them a chance to develop their ideas into projects."

O’Connell’s project organised work placements for unemployed people in his home town of Mallow, Co Cork. He continues to contribute to the scheme by being a member of the YSI youth panel.

About 10 per cent of teenagers in Ireland partake in YSI either in transition year programmes or at Youthreach centres throughout Ireland. “These are the fearless and courageous social innovators. The programme brings out their inner resources and wisdom and hones their skills to bring about positive change,” said Sr Stan.

Speaking at the event, Taoiseach Enda Kenny congratulated the young people and encouraged them to “be bold, be brave and be there – be the difference in your community and inspire others to do the same. And, remember that something small you might do can make a monumental difference to another person”.

Baroness Thornton from the Young Foundation in east London spoke about how the Young Foundation has launched about 50 social innovation projects in countries including the UK, Mozambique and Columbia.

Young Social Innovator: Kirsty Real

Kirsty Real

moved to Clara in Co Offaly with her mother and her younger brother and sister in 2000. The then 11-year-old found it difficult to adjust to life in rural Ireland, having grown up in

Essex

in England.

“It was horrible,” she said. “It was a big culture shock – we moved to my mother’s parents’ house.”

She found she didn’t fit in at the local school and left after her Junior Cert. Real then signed up to do Fetac courses in the Youthreach centre in Clara. “I stayed there for five years – in fact I’d still be there if I could – and that’s where I came across the Young Social Innovators programme.”

Through the YSI, she developed a project examining domestic violence – an area of personal interest because, she says, it was the motivation for the family relocating to Clare– called Behind Closed Doors. She gave presentations in schools, women’s centres and to Traveller groups. “The project gave me the courage to speak out – personally and in the community. It was a very liberating thing to do.”

As part of her project, she made a short film encouraging women to reach out for help and leave situations of domestic violence. “I remember when we were young, walking the streets late at night with nowhere to go. That’s still the reality for so many families today.”

The first student at the Clara Youthreach to complete Fetac Level 5, Real is now studying social studies at Athlone Institute of Technology. She is also the proud mother of a five-year-old girl, Isabelle.

“I’m lucky in that I can still live in Clara and my mum can look after Isabelle when I’m studying. I’d like to work in Oberstown Juvenile Detention Centre and set up a women’s refuge too. I was motivated to do social work from my own life experience. We can all make a difference.”

Young Social Innovator: Aaron Brazil

Leaving Certificate student Aaron Brazil has always been aware of the problems of drug abuse in Clondalkin, where he lives.

“My uncle was a drug addict and when I was younger,” he said. “I didn’t fully understand what was going on. When he went to prison, I was told that was his new job but then, when I was 12, my mam told me the truth. It was a relief really.”

The death of his maternal grandmother in 2011 proved a turning point for his uncle and a significant awareness-raising moment for Brazil. “My nana’s death was a wake-up call. My uncle is completely clean and straight now and I’m very close to him.”

Around the same time, a student took their own life in his school, Collinstown Park Community College, Clondalkin. YSI co-ordinator, Noel Kelly launched the Care About Society Together (Cast) film festival to offer students a way to talk about mental health problems.

Two years later, Brazil played the lead role in a short film at Cast, about what life is like when someone dies. “It helped people understand the value of talking about how you feel,” he said. The film festival has gone from strength to strength and this year’s event will be held in the Lighthouse Cinema.

Brazil has also become outspoken about the dangers of taking drugs. “I give talks to the young students. I tell them that there’s no such thing as a safe drug. I try to give them the confidence to tell friends who are taking drugs that it’s wrong. I think kids accept [advice] when it’s coming from someone around their own age.”

None of this would have happened without the YSI programme, he says. “I found the programme to be a real confidence booster. It’s a more creative way of learning than listening to a teacher . . . I wouldn’t be talking to you now if I hadn’t met other people through the leadership and communications workshops.”

Meanwhile, his role in the film has whetted his appetite for acting. “I am in a model agency now but I’d like to do acting too. I’m hoping to do a degree in business management at Dublin Institute of Technology first,” he says.