100 minds, Ireland’s largest student fundraising initiative, was launched last Tuesday in the Convention Centre Dublin, bringing together close to one thousand students from all over the country.
The project was founded by Declan Egan in 2013, and this year will pair one thousand students with a business professional, and together they will come up with an idea to raise one thousand euros for charity.
The initiative lasts from November until April and at the end of the six months Egan hopes to have raised €1 million for this year’s chosen charity, ISPCC Childline, the organisation’s biggest fundraising target to date.
“100 minds gives college students the opportunity to be part of real social impact whilst developing their project management skills and providing them with a platform to showcase their abilities and stand out from the crowd in future job interviews. It’s a win-win for everyone involved and signing up is now backed and endorsed by some of the world’s top graduate employers”, said Egan.
The business professionals who will be mentoring the students come from world leading companies such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Jameson and Audi amongst many others.
CEO of ISPCC Childine, Grainia Long, addressed the students on the night, praising them for signing up to the programme and explaining how big of an impact the money could potentially have on the charity.
“We are currently the only 24 hour phone service for children in Ireland, and this year due to a lack of funding, we nearly lost our overnight services, we must not let this happen”, she explained.
The ISPCC Childline is completely reliant on donations and fundraising efforts and currently receives no government funding.
Every year the funds raised are donated to a children’s charity. In 2013, €138,000 was raised for Temple Street Children’s hospital and last year €247,000 was raised for Barnardos and Blossom Hill.
By Alison Ring
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