The Navan National Learning Network (NLN) were announced as the ‘Youth of the Year’ winners at the Ocean Hero awards ceremony.
The Ocean Hero awards celebrate the work done by groups, individuals, communities, and businesses who have dedicated time and effort to protect their local coastline and its surrounding environment.
NLN won the Youth of the Year award due to their efforts in protecting and preserving their local waterways throughout the year.
NLN provides free courses for people who have had an accident, illness, injury or have a disability and extra support needs. These courses are tailored to the student’s needs to help them to build their confidence while getting practical job-seeking skills to help them get a job or go on to further training.
They have done cleanups across the beaches of Bettystown, Laytown, Mornington and Clogherhead, removing tons of litter and doing a variety of educational activities on the beach cleans. They also took part in a cleanup of the Ramparts on the River Boyne where they met the Litter Warden from Meath County Council who thanked them for their work.
Students completed their QQI Level 3 Community Participation Module last Summer which included working with the Clean Coasts Programme where they took part and evaluated their time working with Clean Coasts. They were also educated on the work Clean Coasts does, giving educational talks on how they can help. They are also educated on a range of topics which include marine biodiversity, Clean Coasts Think Before You Flush campaign, and the impacts of climate change.
The Ocean Hero awards were first introduced in 2006, initially called the ‘Clean Coasts Merit Awards’ and only featured a single category. There are now over 2,000 Clean Coasts groups and over 40,000 volunteers actively taking part in the programme and supporting coastal communities across the country.
