Nascadh Le Cheile at YSI Den

Young Social Innovators Blog Post

14th of February, 2017

Young Social Innovators is committed to helping young people sustain innovations and promote social entrepreneurship. Nascadh Le Cheile decided to apply for the YSI Den after we recognised how we needed to improve our website maintenance to make it more appealing to young potential volunteers. Through the YSI Den, a Social Innovation Fund is made available to groups who successfully pitch for assistance to support or develop an idea, product or enterprise.

Following a successful application, representatives were invited to pitch to a panel who decide on the allocation of the funds and supports. On the 14th of February, Ellen, Aoibhinn, Enda and I made out way up to Dublin to pitch to the YSI Dragons. There were students from all across Ireland participating at the event. We designed posters as our visual display and learnt off pitches.

When it was our turn to meet the Dragons, we were all very nervous and apprehensive. Nobody knew what to expect. We shook hands with the panel and they signalled for us to start our pitch. Ellen talked about our project, website and how we have reached out to young people through different initiatives. Aoibhinn talked about how we worked with charities and our fundraising efforts to date. I talked about our achievements and what we would like to gain from the YSI Den.

We asked for funding to the worth of €500 and mentoring from Volunteer Ireland. We were brought out of the room to let the judges discuss. When we were called back in we were cautiously optimistic. I can happily say that we succeeded in getting funding to the worth of €250 and a contact with Volunteer Ireland!

It was an extremely exciting day and enjoyable outing for everyone. We didn't expect much and what we received has been invaluable in sculpting our project to where it is today. We then finished off the day by stopping at the Rolling Donut. What more could you ask for!