Athlone school named as county winners in Young Social Entrepreneur Awards

Westmeath County Council has presented Our Lady’s Bower Secondary School, Athlone, with a €250 cheque in recognition of their achievement as county winners in the Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 awards.

The award celebrates outstanding youth-led initiatives with the potential to develop into meaningful social or community-focused enterprises. This year’s winning Westmeath project, “Study Den – Where Learning Meets Community,” was created by students Drishika Gujjaru and Thamizhini Nalin Kumar Balaji. Their innovative proposal outlines an eco-friendly, café-style study hub designed to provide students with a supportive, affordable, and wellbeing-centred environment for learning and collaboration.

Co-ordinated by the Social Enterprise Exchange, the Young Social Entrepreneur programme engaged more than 500 students across the Just Transition region, providing workshops, school visits, and structured supports to help students explore social enterprise as a pathway to community impact and local opportunity.

Gabrielle McFadden, Project Manager with Social Enterprise Exchange and organiser of the competition, outlined how the project also illustrates the value of sustained cross-sector collaboration. “The ability to mobilise local authorities, partnership companies and education sectors around a shared framework was central to success”.

Students were invited to submit ideas that would benefit their communities. The competition enabled students to develop ideas based on the needs of their local community and see real opportunities for employment and enterprise in their local area.

Cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council, Cllr Aoife Davitt, congratulated the students, saying: “I am delighted to present this award on behalf of Westmeath County Council. Study Den is a remarkable example of the creativity, compassion, and problem-solving ability shown by young people in our county. Drishika and Thamizhini have identified a real need in their community and responded with an innovative and thoughtful solution that puts student wellbeing, sustainability, and inclusion at its heart. We are incredibly proud of their achievement and look forward to seeing how their idea continues to grow and inspire others.”

Study Den’s strong social impact, sustainability ethos, and practical feasibility were highlighted by judges, who assessed projects on criteria including creativity, research, presentation, and clarity of social benefit.

The finals brought together standout county winning projects from Westmeath, Roscommon, Offaly and Longford, with students presenting their ideas to an audience of politicians and senior civil servants at Leinster House.

The overall prize was presented by the Minister with responsibility for Social Enterprise from the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, Minister Jerry Buttimer.

The €250 prize awarded by Westmeath County Council as part of a region-wide commitment to supporting youth innovation, local enterprise development, and community-led problem solving