At the very beginning of the school year we were all given a TY induction pack, including all the forms and information relevant to us. Within this pack was an application form to be part of the Young Social Innovators programme. First of all I researched this organization, after visiting and exploring their website I was intrigued and keen to participate in it. I filled in the form carefully and hoped for the best. I was very glad when I was told I was part of the YSI group! Now moving forward a few weeks: we finally agreed on our project, name and logo. We decided our project would be based on helping the elderly. There are various branches attached to our project. For example my father suggested we visit elderly people in the greystones/bray area and write down their stories. We ask them questions about their lives and how greystones/bray has changed over time; then we gather all the individual stories together and make a book. I was a bit hesitant in suggesting this, but was very surprised with the enthusiasm the YSI group showed! Then Anna’s mother is CEO of St John of Gods. As part of our project we are tasked with decorating a section of a wall in St John of Gods. The aim is to create a beautiful area for the elderly for feel comfortable in and that will trigger their imagination when they feel lonely. For people suffering from dementia this space will hopefully make then feel calm and joyful! The idea is that we are going to make the wall look like it's the ocean, with blue paint, fish, seaweed and many more accessories! In addition we will be doing various fundraising and helping out at social events for the elderly. To give us some more information and contacts, the awareness committee invited two speakers to come talk to us on Tuesday. HomeLink Two ladies came in to our school to talk to the YSI group specifically. It was an interesting and worthwhile talk that helped to open our minds to possibilities and to promote our project. First of all the ladies explained to us exactly what Homelink does. They are primarily a phone call service who spend their time talking on the phone to elderly, and sometimes lonely people. They also provide a maintenance service for people who need help with the basic maintenance jobs such as gardening and fixing things. Every second Wednesday of the month they organise a social tea and coffee morning for people to gather and chat. All of these services can be carried out and provided based on the donations HomeLink receive. Something our YSI group could do it to fundraise for HomeLink. Also on the 23rd of November HomeLink are hosting a party in Royal Hotel in Bray, and anyone is welcome. We could help with the setup and organisation for this party, as well as get to know some people. We could enquire if any of the guest would be interested in talking with us and telling us their story for our book. Age Action
Almost immediately afterwards, a man called Donal Denim came in to give us a talk about the organization Age Action. I liked the fact that Donal was in his late sixties, this proves that you can be old on the outside but young on the inside. He even mentioned that in his mind he didn’t feel old at all, but rather the same age as us! The speaker first handed out leaflets to the class and then commenced his powerpoint presentation. I learned that Age Action’s main function is protecting the rights of older people, and they have over 3000 members. All of the work is voluntary, they do receive a bit of government funding but most of their income comes from donations from the public. I thought his presentation was very fascinating. Donal’s primary reason for becoming a member of Age Action was because he wanted to set up U3A in an area somewhere between Bray and Dublin. U3A is a sort of university for older people who want continue their education, a life long learning centre. Donal has setup a U3A in Dun Laoghaire and it has been a great success. Maybe our YSI group could be involved in the U3A programme? What I found most astonishing was the background of Donal himself. He told us he visited Zambia many times, including visiting the president of Zambia. The president asked Donal to recommended a school in Ireland for his children to go to, ironically Donal suggested St Gerard's! Finally he told us a few simple things we can do for the elderly community on a daily basis, to make a difference. We can give up our seat on the bus for an elderly person, we can speak louder as many older people find they have trouble with hearing as time goes by, and we could read stories or sing songs in nursing homes as elderly people adore this. I am really looking forward to where our project will bring us, and hope it will be a success!
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YSIYSI stands for Young Social Innovators. For our YSI project we have decided on helping loneliness in the elderly and putting unity back in community! I will keep you updated on events that occur in YSI during the year. Archives
April 2017
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