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Talented young people from Counties Dublin, Antrim and Kildare yesterday scooped the top awards at the 2024 Trócaire Game Changers competition, with innovative entries raising awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the world around us.
Sophia from St. Dominic’s Grammar, Belfast shows off the school’s winning entry together with Trócaire’s Peter Heaney, Head of Region NI, and Karen Casey, Head of Community Engagement and Outreach. Photo: Mark Stedman
Over 200 talented young people and their educators from across Ireland took part in the 2024 Trócaire Game Changers finals on Tuesday 23 April in The Helix, Dublin. Over 223 entries from youngsters were received with 21 schools and 4 youth groups taking part in the finals. A total of 30 board, digital and card games – based on different themes including equality, sustainability, climate change and food security made it through to the finals, with young people playing and judging the games of fellow finalists at the event.
Game Changers Primary Category
1st: St. Mary’s National School, Donnybrook, Dublin with The Courtroom
2nd: Castaheany ETNS, Dublin with Global Run
3rd: Springfield Primary School, Belfast with Schoolnopoly
Game Changers Post-Primary Category
1st: St Dominic’s Grammar School, Belfast with Fun Farm!
2nd: Loreto Secondary School, Balbriggan with Grow-opoly
3rd: Our Lady and St Patrick’s College, Knock, Belfast with Climate Battle
Game Changers Youth Category
1st: Foróige Blanchardstown, Dublin with Transition to Green
2nd: Celbridge Liffey Guides, Kildare with Consequences
3rd: Sphere 17, Darndale, Dublin with The Bee Games
Anya from St. Mary’s National School in Donnybrook, Dublin who worked on the game ‘The Courtroom’ said that it was a really interesting experience participating in Game Changers.
“The board game is about human rights and what it is like to be in someone else’s shoes. We really enjoyed taking part and were really happy to win”.
Their teacher Ellen Carroll said: “We thought it was so beneficial. It was completely child led. I very much facilitated it and I was amazed with what they came up with. They were so talented”.
Teacher Anne Connolly from St. Dominic’s Grammar who won the Post-Primary Category, said: “Game Changers is an absolutely brilliant competition for pupils to get involved in. Our students were really engaged with the game making element and it definitely allows their research abilities and creativity to shine through. We found the competition an incredibly positive experience for our pupils. They said it was great fun designing the games and playing the games at the Finals as they were all so different. They spent a lots of time on their game as they wanted it to look good and to work as well as possible. They were so excited to be crowned winners.”
Trócaire Game Changers is an annual competition run by the Development Education team, who run workshops in schools and youth groups across the country teaching students and young people about global justice issues. The programme invites students to create a development education game that focuses on a global justice issue of their choice or one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Trócaire’s Mary Coogan, Development Education Programme Manager, said at the event: “One of Trόcaire’s aims is to connect, engage and mobilise young people to act together for change. Game Changers are a perfect example of this. All of the young people who have taken part in this programme not only learn about global justice issues themselves but also become peer educators. The quality of the games in this year’s competition was outstanding.”
