Three Limerick youth projects to receive funding as part of €100,000 Applegreen Blossom Fund
TV star Greg O'Shea, Seamus Stapleton, Commercial Director, Applegreen, Lucy Masterson, CEO Irish Youth Foundation and Rosemary Begley, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager PIC: Juien Behal Photography
THREE LIMERICK youth projects will receive funding as part of the €100,000 Applegreen Blossom Fund.
Narrative 4, Southill Hub and the Smile School Completion Programme will all receive funding to support young people in disadvantaged communities.
16 youth groups throughout the country will receive funding of €5,000 or €10,000 each with fuds being used by groups to address rising levels of education dropout among children living in disadvantaged circumstances.
Narrative 4, brings young people together and builds their confidence via the narrative of storytelling. They have secured €5,000 in funding which will be used to support the work they do in the local community.
Other Limerick recipients Southhill Hub and Smile School Completion Programme have received €5,000 and €10,000 respectively under the Blossom Fund.
The funding, which has been awarded in conjunction with the Irish Youth Foundation (IYF) will go towards projects that support children with complex needs, providing work experience to students in areas of STEM, offering support and counselling, and facilitating escapes in the countryside.
Lucy Masterson, CEO of the Irish Youth Foundation, commented: "The young people we support have been disproportionately affected by the last two years. We’re now starting to see the worrying effects of that in higher levels of disengagement in and early school leaving.
"Through our close work with youth projects across the country we know that the transitions from primary to secondary, and from junior to senior cycle are crucial times in a young person’s life.
"Ensuring that they are supported during those transitions can be life changing – for instance, early school leavers are three times as likely to be unemployed.
"That’s why the support provided by the Applegreen Blossom Fund is so important. It will ensure 16 incredible projects will be better able to meet this need and change the lives of young people across the country. We’re grateful to Applegreen for making this the focus of the fund this year."