Calling teens with big dreams in Westmeath for the Bright Future Prize

The Ardonagh Group’s leading charity, ACT, wants talented young people from Westmeath to enter its annual Bright Future Prize before the deadline of November 10.

The prize offers £40,000 to young people who dream of making a difference to the community and world around them.

The Bright Future Prize gives young people aged 13-19 the chance to turn their ideas to make a difference into reality.

The prize, now in its third year, is hosted by ACT, the independent charity of one of the world’s leading insurance brokers, The Ardonagh Group, whose Analytics Lab operates locally in Mullingar and whose brands include Arachas, Ireland's largest nationwide insurance broker.

Winners of this year’s four prize categories will each receive a share of the £40,000 fund, alongside opportunities for mentoring, to help turn their dreams into reality.

The Bright Future Prize has already given over £60,000 to young people around the world, whose winning ideas have ranged from designs for a recyclable wind turbine, a video game to support teenagers’ mental health, and creating a community hub to support autistic young people.

Sara O’Beirne from Leitrim was one of 2022’s four winners, and is passionate about renewable energy.

Traditional fibreglass wind turbine blades are expensive and can’t be recycled. In fact, 43 million tons of fibreglass will end up in landfill by 2050. To tackle this, Sara has designed an eco-turbine blade made from wood.

Over the past two years, Sara has been designing and testing her innovative self-build wooden wind turbine kit.

Thanks to funding from the Bright Future Prize, Sara has been able to take her design to the next stage, purchasing the machinery to build her wind turbine. Sara initially plans to sell her blades locally, but ultimately, she wants to take them across the world, particularly in Africa where affordable, renewable, and reliable energy is so important to establish.

Sara describes how Bright Future Prize has enabled her idea to grow.

“When I found out I was a winner, I couldn’t believe it at first. I was absolutely blown away. It has been so helpful to have the love and support from my family, friends and my school, as well as ACT. This project would simply not happen otherwise. I honestly thought my wind turbine project would never get off the ground, but this incredible prize has given my ideas wings.”

The four Bright Future Prize categories, which share the £40,000 fund, are:

Your Community – Making a difference to the people around you

Your Planet – Protecting the environment and taking a stand against climate change

Your Vision – Driving positive change through entrepreneurship or innovation

Your Passion – Sharing your love for music, the arts or sport with more people

The prize is open to young people aged 13-19, who live in any region where Ardonagh has a presence, including the UK, Ireland, Australia, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Greece and Italy.

To apply, candidates – individually, or as a group – should propose a project that will make a positive difference and outline how they will use the funding to make their idea a reality. Applications are open between 18 September and November 10. To apply please visit: https://www.ardonaghtrust.org/bright-future