Cork students shine in international Bright Future Prize competition
Gearoid Fitzgerald, Regional Director Arachas South and Head of Business Development for Arachas, and the Aid Avengers, winners of ‘Your Community’ at the ACT Bright Future Prize
Two Cork entrants have been awarded significant funding for their innovative community projects by the prestigious international competition, the ACT (Ardonagh Community Trust) ‘Bright Future Prize’.
The Aid Avengers and Isabel Connolly were today announced as recipients of the prize fund by the country’s largest nationwide insurance broker, Arachas, which has origins based in Cork and now employs 45 in its Cork offices. The prize funding is available through Arachas’s parent company, The Ardonagh Group.
The Aid Avengers won the ‘Your Community’ category and will receive £10,000 (approx. €11,300) from the ACT to invest in their project. The team is comprised of six TY students from Coláiste an Chroí Naofa in Carrignavar, Carrie O’Shea, Louie Guichard, Mikayla O’Connell, Emma Florish, Robyn Firmo and Amy O’Sullivan, who all have the goal of raising awareness around first aid. The team are already running activities and workshops in their school with other institutions such as the RNLI and the fire brigade. They will also raise awareness in their local community through a petition campaign, with further plans next year to reach a wider audience, including primary school children.
Aid Avenger Carrie O’Shea said: “Being from a rural area, the importance of first aid knowledge is paramount to our community wellbeing. The average time it takes an ambulance to reach its destination is 19 minutes and in that time a life can be saved. We want to educate a new generation of first aiders and raise awareness of the importance of first aid. Thank you so much to ACT for helping us make our dream a reality!”
16-year-old Isabel Connolly, a student in Scoil Mhuire on Wellington Road will receive a grant of £2,500 (€2,915) to further develop her app ‘HerSportHub’ which centres around gender inclusivity in sport.
After noticing the high numbers of girls dropping out of sports in their teens, Isabel coded a dedicated app to cultivate a network of girls passionate about sports. The app aims to connect teens with clubs and groups in their area so they can access activities, showcase female role models in sports and share resources and events.
Isabel said: “I am absolutely honoured to be recognised by the Bright Future Prize and want to thank everyone at ACT for this life-changing prize fund. Statistically, girls quit sports at one-and-a-half times the rate of boys, and by 17, less than half of all teenage girls take part in any sport at all. This app is an opportunity for girls my age to form communities around the sports and games we love and help each other stay engaged and motivated.”
For the Bright Future Prize, applicants were asked to propose a project or a cause close to their heart and outline how they would use the funding to help make their chosen community better, brighter and stronger.
The prize is funded by Arachas’s international partner, The Ardonagh Group, whose charity, the ACT, (Ardonagh Community Trust), hosts the prize. Through this fund, the ACT, alongside Arachas and The Ardonagh Group, aim to empower teens with dreams to make a difference in their communities and create positive change.
