The Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation have officially launched a new scholarship programme for students of GMIT Castlebar Campus which will be funded through the collection of unwanted mobile phones. The new scholarships, valued at €1,000 each, will be awarded to students who have played an active part in fundraising and awareness raising for charities, with these students nominated by staff and students of the Castlebar Campus and the winner selected by an independent panel.
Each of the new scholarships will be funded through the collection and recycling of 350 unwanted mobile phones which will be recycled and the cash raised converted into home nursing care for Jack and Jill families nationwide, as well as supporting the GMIT Castlebar Campus students.
Jack and Jill supports more than 300 families in Ireland, including nine families in Mayo and 17 families in Galway and the home nursing care bill for the two counties is currently running at €140,000 a year. Given the mobile phone usage rate in Ireland, it is estimated that we have up to 10 million old mobile phones just lying in the bottom of drawers gathering dust and people in the area are asked to donate their old mobiles by simply dropping them into one of the Jack and Jill collection boxes in GMIT Castlebar Campus.
The new scholarship were officially launched by Dr Barbara Burns, head of GMIT Castlebar Campus, and GMIT Castlebar Students’ Union president Alan Judge along with Catherine Terry from the Jack and Jill Foundation.
