Social Entrepreneurs - Shortlist

Shortlist for Emerging Social Entrepreneur (www.davidmanleyawards.ie):

Attendance at 3rd level education from disadvantaged areas is low, despite it being free. John Lawlor & Claire Conneely set up The Bridge to College (B2C) and developed an innovative programme to address this, using a mix of team-based workshops and technology-mediated learning.

2 people under the age of 35 die each week in Ireland from Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD). Mary Desmond Vasseghi and other bereaved parents established the 'Sudden Cardiac Death in the Young Support Group' in February 2006. It supports affected families and is advocating for the compulsory screening of all athletes.

In 2006, Krystian Fikert, a Polish psychologist, set up The Psychological Centre in Dublin (PPD) to address the psychological needs of Polish immigrants in Ireland. In 2007, they expanded to include all immigrant groups and last year, it was extended as a service to all.