ENTREPRENEURIAL campus Ormeau Baths has completed a partnership with social innovation and research pioneers The Young Foundation which will also see the latter become residents at the shared co-working space.
The Young Foundation is a non-profit non-governmental organisation based in London that finds new ways of tackling social problems by working alongside communities, using the tools of research and social innovation.
A four-strong team from the Foundation will be taking one of Ormeau Baths’ upstairs offices, which will become the organisation’s base for its work across Ireland, north and south.
That work includes Amplify NI, a major four-year initiative funded by the Big Lottery Fund, which supports people in Northern Ireland to take action together, to create fairer communities where everyone can thrive.
They have recently just launched Amplify Youth, a new adaptation of that programme which is backed by the Credit Suisse Foundation and is set to be rolled out over the next two years in London, Dublin and Belfast.
The Foundation has also been running a social innovation programme for Belfast City Council over the past year and has been working across four locations developing new innovative ideas with local residents to tackle social issues in their communities.
Roger Warnock, programme lead for the Young Foundation in Ireland, said the ethos behind Ormeau Baths lines up with the Foundation’s determination to make positive social change happen.
“It is clear to us that the founders of Ormeau Baths understand the value of social inclusion in the way the place has been set up to maximise the sharing of collective knowledge for collaborative impact,” he said.
“As partner we will be there to support start-ups who are working on ‘tech for good’ and to encourage more corporates and SMEs to use technology as an enabler of social innovation and new ways to provide technology to those who have no access to it.”
Mark Dowds, co-founder of the Ormeau Baths, said: “We feel honoured to partner with the Young Foundation to help our members think through the social impact of their ventures and encourage them to include multiple bottom lines within their business plans that could lead to more social change and inclusion.”
