Our 2024 Impact Awardees are coming together with a shared mission: harnessing the power of community to create meaningful social change.
The Impact Programme has five places on it as part of our €500,000 investment into developing stage social entrepreneurship.
We received over 100 applications from leaders across Ireland seeking to accelerate their impact, thank you to everyone who came forward and applied to Social Entrepreneurs Ireland. We are delighted to share the following five leaders have been recognised for their significant dedication and innovation in addressing some of Ireland’s major societal challenges and fostering lasting social change.
The Social Entrepreneurs Ireland 2024 Impact Awardees are:
Community Roots – Scott Bryan and Caitriona Kenny
Community Roots’ mission is to overcome disconnect within our communities and help urban-dwellers grow their own food through garden-sharing. They connect garden owners with gardenless, budding growers living nearby and looking for a patch to grow their own food. They are building both climate-resilient & connected communities – tackling social isolation, promoting skill-sharing and improving health & wellbeing.
Connections Arts Centre – Miriam Spollen
Connections Arts Centre’s mission is to assist people with disabilities to overcome barriers encountered every day that lead to them being devalued and excluded from their communities. They do this by providing accessible arts, lifestyle, mentoring and training programmes that are inclusive of everybody.
Dignity Partnership – Rosemary Kunene
Dignity Partnership is a work integration social enterprise delivering non- formal education programmes that fosters integration and inclusion for new communities. Their purpose is to support new communities in Ireland through economic opportunities, skills development and access to services to enable them to maximise their full potential. They also work with state agencies to explore, develop and promote inclusive practices for the benefit of all.
HUGS@Home – Michelle O’Toole
HUGS@Home empowers family members and friends of first responders to provide social support by raising awareness and teaching practical stress management skills. Training first responder’s loved ones in the elements of ‘HUGS‘: Hearing, Understanding, Guiding, and Supporting can help reduce the impact of what first responders take ‘Home’ and enhance the wellbeing of first responders and their loved ones.
PsyCare Ireland – Michael Ledden
PsyCare Ireland’s mission is to support people who attend music events and festivals who may be experiencing difficult psychological experiences due to overwhelm or difficult substance induced experiences. They provide 24-hour, volunteer staffed welfare services at these events with safe spaces for people to get support for mental health issues or substance related crises. They also provide information to reduce the harm of substances.
Over the next nine months the awardees will gain access to support from Social Entrepreneurs Ireland’s community of business leaders and sector experts who will offer mentorship, capacity building, and strategic guidance to help their organisations thrive.
Today is a celebration of the collective strength that emerges when the business, philanthropic and social entrepreneurial world come together to support one another. Connecting this next set of awardees with our community will accelerate a wave of impact that reaches far beyond their individual efforts, and we cannot wait to see what’s to come for this group in the future.
Thank you to Kennedy Wilson, who have been supporting social entrepreneurs through this model of support since 2022. We met in Kennedy Wilson’s offices to launch this year’s programme and celebrate the selected awardees.
Thank you also to DCC plc, who support our National Call for Applications.
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