Innovators draw on experience of the past

Despite the recession gripping the country, a group of North Clare pupils managed to coax funding for a specialist piece of exercise equipment from an unusual group of dragons recently.
Transition year pupils at Scoil Mhuire presented a €250 cheque to the Ennistymon Community Hospital and Day Care Centre on Tuesday to provide an exercise machine for users of the local facility.
During the last academic year transition year pupils at Scoil Mhuire participated in the Young Social Innovators project. The YSI Project is held nationally and involves work young people do to improve the lives of people in society or the local community. The project is led by the pupils in a way that is respectful, empowering, fair, innovative, fun and experiential but also suggests and takes actions for change to make the world a better place.
Transition years at Scoil Mhuire decided to address the topic of the older person. Their project was entitled If youth knew…if age could.
“Their inspiration for this project was their will to learn about the older person in the community and to learn more about the past and their lives. These pupils started to imagine a world where the ability of the younger person and the knowledge and experience of the older person were combined.
“They hoped to encourage the participation of older people in our local community of Ennistymon and likewise to encourage the youth to be the catalysts of developing and sustaining a strong relationship between the young and old through the showing of skills and tradition and so bridge the gap between the older person and youth,” explained religion teacher Nicola Honan.
“The pupils believed that this issue was extremely relevant to their rural community because the pupils in Scoil Mhuire, Ennistymon travel from Lahinch, Kilfenora, Miltown, Corofin, Inagh, Liscannor and many other nearby villages, all of which had a dense population of older people, many grandparents, other relations or neighbours of theirs.
“They felt that by addressing the issue of the elderly they had a project whereby the older people in their community may benefit, while they would develop many important insights on the older person and the services that are provided to the older person in Ireland but in particular Ennistymon,” she continued.
Young Social Innovators believe that ‘actions speak louder than words’. These transition year pupils knew that Ennistymon Community Hospital and Day Care Centre, which cares and addresses the many physical and social needs of the local older people, was the perfect location for such actions to take place.
Since November 2010 pupils have volunteered to go to the Community Hospital and Daycare Centre three times a week, helping the older person, hosting bingo competitions and reminiscing about days passed.
“They wanted to get to know the older people better by talking with them and learning some traditional skills from them such as making St Brigit’s crosses but also to share some of their perhaps more modern skills, like texting,” Ms Honan outlined.
With the help of their transition year coordinator, Geraldine Barry, the pupils provided the Log on to Learn Programme to the older people of the local community, teaching them some useful computer skills. They also decorated the centre for Christmas.
“The pupils put up the Christmas tree and painted designs on the windows. It was enjoyable and they shared many interesting stories with the older person and discovered that they were full of life, enthusiasm and definitely young at heart.
“Perhaps one of the most interesting discoveries that the pupils made during their project was that the term ‘the elderly’ was no longer considered politically correct by people who work with older people. They were now addressed or discussed as the older person,” she continued.
In March the transition year pupils travelled to the Black Box Theatre in Galway to participate in the YSI Regional Speakouts. There they performed a roleplay displaying the work they had completed with the older people while also highlighting their various learning experiences.
During their time at the Community Hospital and Day Care Centre the pupils realised the importance of exercise for the elderly.
“People always say ‘You’re only as old as you feel’. As these girls discovered, it turns out to be true. Science has proven that staying active keeps your body younger. After speaking to the Community Hospital and Day Care Centre and putting themselves in the position of the older people, the pupils saw that there was a deficit of easy-to-use exercise equipment. Following some Internet research and many phone calls, the pupils discovered that a piece of exercise equipment called the active passive trainer would fill this void.
“This is an exercise machine used to work out the upper and lower body. It has been specifically designed for the older person, particularly those with rheumatism and arthritis. This machine is perfect for the older person as it allows them to work out while sitting in their own chair, or wheelchair,” Ms Honan explained.
“Unfortunately, we are in the midst of a recession and costs are huge so the pupils thought it was fitting that they would endeavor to bring their project to the YSI Den, which operates in a similar format to the RTE’s TV programme of the Dragon’s Den,” she continued.
Last month, four transition year pupils, Róisín Nestor, Éimear O’Sullivan, Aishling Torpey and Alex O’Doherty, travelled to KPMG Offices in Dublin to pitch their project to the YSI Dragons in the hope that they would receive funding for a active passive trainer for the Community Hospital and the Day Care Centre. The girls had to complete their pitch in two minutes and were then questioned by the dragons on their project for another two minutes. Following deliberations, the dragons offered the girls €250, which they accepted on behalf of the Ennistymon Community Hospital and Day Care Centre.
Ms Honan praised the transition years for their hard work and dedication to the project. She also praised the girls who represented the class in Dublin highlighting that the funding they received on the day would culminate their work at the Community Hospital and Day Care Centre and “will act as a token from the time they spent there, along with improving the quality of life of the older people they have grown to know.”
The pupils presented the cheque to the Ennistymon Community Hospital and Day Care Centre on Tuesday.