National recognition for Tullamore students at Young Social Innovators Awards

Students from Tullamore College have achieved national recognition at the Young Social Innovators of the Year Awards held in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, this week.

The local group received the Fundraising Award for their entry, entitled ‘Interactive Disability’.

The Offaly students' project aimed to make sports more inclusive for students with disabilities in their school.

Through fundraising activities such as raffles and sponsored marathons, they raised €12,000 of their €15,000 goal in order to purchase an interactive ball wall, which allows students with limited mobility to be included in the many games available on the wall.

In a social media post on Thursday, the school congratulated the students on their success and thanked their guides, Ms Bradley and Mr Feighery, for helping them make their idea a reality.

Thirty-seven teams from post primary schools throughout Ireland were selected to take part in a rigorous pitching process in April, and the 17 overall and individual category winners, including the team from Tullamore College, were announced on stage by the Awards co-presenters, broadcaster Zara King and former Hometown boyband member Dayl Cronin.

Commenting on the high standard of this year’s entries for the Young Social Innovators of the Year Awards, CEO of Young Social Innovators (YSI), Roger Warnock, said: "The incredible quality of ideas submitted this year led to a higher number of teams being selected for the final pitches.

"Each one of them demonstrated the creative thinking, passion and teamwork needed to find impactful solutions to social issues affecting their communities.

"The support from teachers, parents, families and YSI guides is essential to the successful coordination of these social innovation projects and we're so grateful to them for their ongoing commitment."