SpunOut.ie is an Irish

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

focused on providing online youth information. Its tagline is "by young people, for young people". The organisation's stated mission is to "help create an Ireland where young people aged between 16 and 25 are empowered with the information they need to live active, happy, and healthy lives".” SpunOut.ie is the sole project of Community Creations CLG. It was founded in

Donegal town Donegal ( ; , "fort of the foreigners") is a town in County Donegal in Ulster, the northern Provinces of Ireland, province in Ireland. Although Donegal gave its name to the county, now Lifford is the county town. From the 15th until the early 1 ...

in 2004 by

Ruairí McKiernan Ruairí McKiernan is an Irish author, Social entrepreneurship, social entrepreneur and campaigner on youth, community, health, and social justice issues. In 2012, he was appointed to the Irish Council of State (Ireland), Council of State by Pres ...

. SpunOut.ie was previously based in

Ballyshannon Ballyshannon () is a town in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 road (Ireland), N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 road (Ireland), N15 crosses the River Erne. The town was inc ...

and

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

and is now situated in Seán MacBride House in

Temple Bar, Dublin Temple Bar () is an area on the south bank of the River Liffey in central Dublin, Ireland. The area is bounded by the Liffey to the north, Dame Street to the south, Westmoreland Street to the east and Fishamble Street to the west. It is promote ...

Online

SpunOut.ie reaches over one million website users each year, providing thousands of pages of youth information and supportive factsheets on topics such as

sexual health Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life. Sexual and reproductive healt ...

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

and

employment Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

. The website includes true-life stories from young people who have overcome difficulties in life, hundreds of articles by young contributors on the issues that affect them, and signposting to numerous services and organisations on the island of Ireland. SpunOut.ie also runs regular media campaigns on issues such as

youth unemployment Youth unemployment refers to the proportion of the Workforce, labor force aged 15 – 24 who do not have a job but are seeking employment. Youth unemployment is different from unemployment in the general workforce in that youth unemployment rat ...

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

awareness, and mental health.

Youth engagement

The overall direction and policies of SpunOut.ie are set by its Youth Action Panel, a group of more than 150 young people from across the island of Ireland divided into several regional divisions. Action Panel members act as ambassadors and role models for SpunOut.ie, set the organisation's campaigning and content priorities, and assist full-time staff team based in Dublin.

Events and forums

SpunOut.ie organises events and forums that connect young people with decision makers, politicians and influential people. These have included the NESDO Futures Ireland Youth Forum, the Presidential Youth Forum with the 2011 Presidential Candidates, and the POSSIBILITIES 2011 social change summit (with Afri and Children in Crossfire) that featured the Dalai Lama, Mary Robinson and a programme of music, theatre, poetry and inspirational speakers.

Media

SpunOut.ie has been featured in national media outlets in Ireland including RTÉ TV news, Nationwide, 360, iWitness, Seoige and O'Shea and TV3 news. It has been featured in the Irish Times Health Supplement and the Irish Times magazine and on RTÉ Radio's Today with Pat Kenny, Today FM's Ray D'Arcy Show amongst others.

Advocacy

SpunOut.ie has made representations to

Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...

(Irish parliament) committees and met the

Irish President The president of Ireland () is the head of state of Ireland and the supreme commander of the Irish Defence Forces. The presidency is a predominantly ceremonial institution, serving as the representative of the Irish state both at home and abr ...

, Ministers, TDs, Senators and MEPs to advocate for youth participation in public life and adequate investment in young people. SpunOut.ie supported a Yes vote in the 2018 Referendum on the Repeal of the Eighth Amendment.

Outreach

SpunOut.ie visits schools, colleges and community settings to do talks and workshops on youth and civic issues. SpunOut.ie staff and volunteers also speak at youth, health, media and civic events and conferences. SpunOut.ie has published a range of publications including the 'Our Stories' journal of selected youth media, the 'Be The Revolution' social change booklet, and the 'Youth Rising' magazine, all of which have been distributed throughout Ireland.

Awards

SpunOut.ie has won several awards including: Junior Chambers International, National Award for Social Entrepreneurship; Net Visionary Award,'Social Contribution' category; Interactive Media Award (Youth); Irish Digital Media Award; Ulster Bank Business Achievement Award; Global Young Social Entrepreneur Award (nominated); HSE Innovation Award in Communications and Technology; Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Award '06;

Barnardos Barnardo's is a global charity headquartered in Barkingside in the London Borough of Redbridge. It was founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each ...

Young Volunteer of the Year Award. In 2012 SpunOut.ie won the Bronze Award at the Nokia Digital Media Awards in the category "Best Charity/Non Profit Use of Digital Media". In September 2013, following a redesign of the SpunOut.ie website, SpunOut.ie won two Dot.ie Net Visionary Awards. Jason Coomey collected the "Most meticulous and cutting edge web developer (individual or agency)" and the organisation also won ""You Did Good" - Best Use of the Internet for Social Good" for its work with young people in Ireland. In 2013 SpunOut.ie also won an EU Youth Media Award for High Impact Digital Solutions in the Create your Culture! category.

References

External links

SpunOut.ie
Youth organisations based in the Republic of Ireland