Futuremakers puts young people at the heart of economic recovery in Ireland
on 10 Feb 202210 February 2022, Dublin – Standard Chartered is today announcing the renewal of its Uplifting Youth Programme in Ireland for a further two years. The project was first launched in 2021, in response to COVID-19, to support students in higher education impacted by the economic and social fall-out of the global pandemic.
In its first year, over 80 people, aged 18-25, benefited from targeted support, learning many new skills to strengthen and rebuild their businesses, including financial management, leadership, critical thinking, resilience and problem solving.
Delivered by NGO Enactus Ireland[1], the programme continues to be funded by the Standard Chartered Foundation and is part of the Futuremakers by Standard Chartered global initiative to tackle inequality by promoting greater economic inclusion in the Bank’s markets.
As before, a wide variety of support will be provided by the Enactus team and by volunteer employees, fully trained by Enactus, from Standard Chartered’s Aviation Finance team, based in Dublin and Limerick. Support includes targeted training and mentoring. Kieran Corr, CEO of Ireland at Standard Chartered, took part in the Enactus National Competition judging the young people’s project ideas.
Kieran said: “Extending the Uplifting Youth Programme is about doing the right thing. As a volunteer myself, I have seen firsthand the incredible impact it has on young people in our local communities, who continue to be among those hardest hit by the economic and social impact of COVID-19.
“The younger generation has so much potential and the team here are delighted to get involved once more, share their skills and knowledge, and help these young people to thrive.”
Laura Dennehy, Enactus Ireland Country Manager, said “At Enactus Ireland, we are delighted to continue our partnership with Standard Chartered following the great success of the programme in year one. We are calling for third level students around Ireland, who are passionate about social change and want to take action, to join us and become Futuremakers. We know that our students are capable of creating change and addressing social inequalities and we can’t wait to see what they will do this year!”
The Uplifting Youth Programme is available to students attending one of Enactus’ Irish network of universities. Students can register their interest here by 10 March, outlining how their social entrepreneurial solutions will positively affect young people whose employment and personal development opportunities have been limited by COVID-19.. The programme will run until December 2022. One of the 2021 entrepreneurial business ideas developed by students was called ReStart. It helped over 350 asylum seekers, providing them with educational workshops on food safety, dealing with common hazards in the workplace and returning to school.
In 2020, Standard Chartered set up a USD50 million COVID-19 Global Charitable Fund[2] to provide emergency relief and economic support for communities impacted by COVID-19. The Bank has committed USD25 million to support youth-focused economic recovery projects as part of Futuremakers. To date, Futuremakers programmes in the Europe and Americas region, which includes Ireland, have helped around 10,500 youth to access economic opportunities and unlock their potential. Over 200 young people on programmes in the region have set up their own small and mid-size enterprises, and over 60 young entrepreneurs have accessed a share of almost USD296,000 in grant and seed funding.
To hear from some of the our Futuremakers visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXQ-i3_ERRE
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For further information please contact:
Claire Newell
Senior Communications Manager, Europe
Standard Chartered Bank
Tel: +44 (0)207 885 8857
Email: Claire.newell@sc.com
Note to Editors
About the Standard Chartered Foundation
The Standard Chartered Foundation (SCF) is a charitable organisation that tackles inequality by promoting greater economic inclusion for disadvantaged young people, particularly girls, young women and people with visual impairments. Its programmes focused on education, employability, entrepreneurship and include projects that support economic recovery for communities impacted by COVID-19. Established in 2019, SCF is a registered charity in England and Wales (charity number 1184946) and is the lead delivery partner for Futuremakers by Standard Chartered, a global initiative to tackle inequality. www.sc.com/scfoundation
Enactus
Enactus is the world’s largest experiential learning platform dedicated to creating a better world while developing the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders and social innovators. The Enactus network of global business, academic and student leaders are unified by our vision—to create a better, more sustainable world. Enactus Ireland operates in ten Higher Education Institutions across the country; Dublin City University, Dún Laoghaire Institute Of Art Design & Technology, Maynooth University, Munster Technological University, NUI Galway, Technological University Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, University College Dublin and University of Limerick. Website: www.enactus.ie
[1] See Note to Editors
[2] https://www.sc.com/en/sustainability/investing-in-communities/global-charitable-fund/