Newport College supports Pieta House
Newport College was the winning school in a unique business-focused charity initiative run by top Irish motorway service station Junction 14, Mayfield.
Over €8,800 was raised for Pieta House in Progress for Pieta, an initiative that worked specifically with Transition Year students, with each participating school receiving €100 seed capital to use and ‘progress’ this initial investment through organised activities and reinvestment of profits.
The idea behind the initiative was to give pupils a live business-focussed project to develop their entrepreneurial and business skills, whilst also raising awareness and funds for Pieta House with all final profits being donated to Pieta House.
Eight schools across the country participated in the month-long inaugural project with a total of €8,898.56 being raised.
The winning school was Newport College, where students scooped a €2,500 prize after they raised a total of €3765.33 through a bake sale, no uniform day and fun run. This was a great result for the school as they were the smallest school in the competition.
Speaking at the presentation, Gavin Moran, General Manager of Junction 14, said: ‘This was a great event and we are extremely satisfied with the outcome. It was the first year we have run this and we now have a great base to propel this event. We feel that many more schools will come on board and it’s an ideal project for Transition Year students as it helps to hone their business skills. It’s also a great way to open the conversation about mental health and the great work Pieta House do.”
Speaking at the presentation, Marie Peelo of Pieta House commented: “We admire the resourcefulness and enterprise of the students. This has been a great event as it has offered Transition Year students a live project to help nurture their entrepreneurial skills but more importantly, it opens a conversation about the Pieta House and the work we do. We thank Junction 14 for the opportunity of creating awareness of Pieta House among the students.”
Junction 14 and Pieta House will be running the campaign again next year and schools will be sent out an invitation to participate. The goal is that more schools get involved next year and this event becomes a part of the Transition Year activities.