Philanthropy Supporting Women: Applegreen Blossom Fund at the Irish Youth Foundation

Applegreen in partnership with the Irish Youth Foundation provided €124,000 in 2018 to fund not-for profit-voluntary and charitable organisations supporting children aged 4–12 living in disadvantaged circumstances.

Through the Applegreen Blossom Fund, projects which focus on positive physical, mental health, healthy eating and other innovative ways of supporting children in these areas have been supported.

62 community and voluntary youth projects across Ireland were chosen from over 300 applicants to receive a total of €124,000 from the Fund.

The successful projects ranged from healthy eating and fitness, circus performance, outdoor classrooms, kindness and even Star Wars-themed kick boxing!

The Shona Project was one such initiative which received support. Shona celebrates women from all over the world. Their philosophy is to educate girls about supporting each other to be smart, strong and, above all else, kind.

Based in Passage East,Waterford the Shona Project are using the Applegreen Blossom Fund to establish the ‘Shona Primary Curriculum’. This Programme will teach primary school students about kindness. A series of interactive activities and modules will be available to children which encourage kindness to both ourselves, others and the community. The funding will be used towards design and development of materials.