Did you know?
Young Social Innovators campaign in Creagh College Gorey called ‘Wave Watchers’.
- Goals include enhancing community awareness and education on the issue of climate change and its affect on marine life, water quality and our coastlines.
- We aim to spotlight the Seal Sanctuary’s efforts in Courtown and generate funds to sponsor a kennel for a year.
- We are also conducting research on the governments’ plans for off shore wind turbines and are calling for environmentally friendly offshore wind turbines that cause minimal disruption to marine mammals, birds and wildlife.
- We are exploring the issue of coastal damage in Courtown and wish to get involved in the Beach renourishment project.
Why the group chose this cause and why it matters to them
- “Last September, our teacher engaged us in activities including an A- Z of issues task. We worked in groups to come up with the issues we feel affect us as young people for each letter of the alphabet. Groups raised several concerns from the cost of living crisis, bullying and homelessness. However climate emerged as a recurring theme across all groups. Our exploration began with researching climate impact on our local area, leading to discussions about coastal erosion at Courtown beach and the role of the Seal Sanctuary”
What have they achieved so far?
- Our first action was to contact the sanctuary to deepen our understanding of their work. One of our members visited the sanctuary arranging for our group visit. Learning about the seals and their challenge due to climate change was eye opening. To support the sanctuary we organised a Bondi Beach party fundraiser in our school which included a non uniform day, a bake sale, sea themed games and a photobooth where you could get your photo taken with Santa and his Shark! We also did a school clean up creating Christmas cards from collected and cleaned rubbish to highlight how much waste we create on a daily basis. Our efforts were communicated through a poster campaign, intercom announcements, an article in our school magazine and through a social media campaign. Altogether we raised over 800 euro for charity.
- In January we were 1 of just 10 schools selected to attend the Eirgrid Powering Up event in the Aviva stadium. We gained insight into the inner workings of the National control centre and had the opportunity to engage in thought provoking sessions on climate justice and biodiversity. Throughout the project we have sought guidance from individuals such as Senator Malcom Byrne and John Bird from Volunteer Wexford on project management and fundraising.
Future Plans
- On the 11th March we will travel to Drogheda to attend the SpeakOut event to get our message out even further. We will host a Marine Week in our school with various events that highlight our issues. This will include a visit to our local primary school to educate the students there about our issue. We have registered for the Big Beach Clean in May. We are exploring the issue of coastal damage in Courtown and have been analysing historical photos of the area. We have also begun an engagement with Courtown Community Council as we would like to be involved in the beach renourishment project.
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