Sustainable Sleepover Club

EP 39 With Taylor on Youth-work Development 

Maha is a 16 year old teenage girl from Limerick who originally came from Pakistan and has been living in Ireland for the past 7 year. She describes herself as a student life content creator and likes to share her notes, study motivation, tips n tricks and her journey as a student. Go follow @digitaldiaryofms on Instagram!

On top of that, she has a passion for student voice, slow fashion, and religious freedom. Maya has been an active member of the green schools committee in her school since 1st year. Previously, taking part in competitions like young reporters of the environment, Young environmentalist Awards and Junkkouture. She is currently serving her term as the limerick regional officer in the Irish Second level students union (ISSU).

We loved finding out her study advice, how she became interested in slow fashion and her story of being denied religious freedom and expression. We learned so much from Maya and left the conversation filled with inspiration and motivation. In the sleepover section, our students who finished the Leaving Cert this summer also share their study advice so this is THE back to school podcast to listen to!

Jamie is a sustainability youth activist from County Monaghan and this episode is all about the Sustainable Development Goals, the framework that gave us the idea to start this podcast in the first place!

He has recently taken his activism even further and is the newly-elected Sustainability Officer of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU). As an activist, his main priorities surround Education on Sustainable Development (ESD). He has worked with many organisations to push for quality ESD such as in scout troops across the country with Scouting Ireland or classrooms with the ISSU. His major focus for the year ahead is transport, and working with the government to change the cost of public transport for young people.

We spoke about how Jamie became an activist, the importance of ALL the SDGs and about how critical education is to achieve each and every goal from climate action to gender equality!

We hope you enjoy & learn as always.

In this episode we chat to Ross Boyd who spoke to us about being autistic and asexual. We chat about the problems with the current education system, including his experiences and also the possible solutions to making education more accessible to neurodivergent students.

We hope you enjoy & as always, learn with us!

In this Episode we talk about books and our suggestions and have a go at some unpopular opinions, from leaving cert, to movies, actors and more.

We recorded this episode during Pride Month which is held in June each year to commemorate the Stonewall riots of 1969 and were delighted to chat to the incredibly talented, insightful…Bee. Bee is a  queer illustrator and interdisciplinary creative currently based in London, Bee (aka @beeIllustrates on Instagram) uses their platform to share distinctive, quirky illustrations paired with short essays to educate, empower and inform on a range of important topics. Primarily focusing on mental health, Queerness, Feminism and current affairs, Bee's aim is to make complex theory and difficult subjects accessible and palatable for the modern millennial and Gen-Z audience. Bee graduated from The University of Edinburgh with a First Class Ba (Hons) in Illustration, having also completed courses in Queer Studies and Social Anthropology. We learned so much about both queerness and mental health from talking to them and we love this episode!

Prachi is a 16 year old activist and student involved with Friday's for Future, Comhairle Na nÓg, Young amnesty international, amongst many other activist organisations.

This conversation with her gave us so much hope and we loved hearing about the ways she is making change! Prachi gave us so much to unpack in the sleepover section and we hope you learn from (& enjoy listening)!

In this episode we spoke to Sophie-Alicia Wiseman who is an brilliant violinist and is deaf.

I spoke to Honey Ross in this episode who uses she/her pronouns, is bisexual, is a writer and She co-founded The Pink Protest which is a community of activists committed to engaging in action and supporting each other having been a part of changing two UK laws through engaging the power of young people. Honey also co-hosts the incredible Body protest Podcast with Nadia Craddock, a body image researcher. A podcast hoping to unify people with the common understanding that the struggle to love oneself, is very real whilst exploring themes of race, toxic masculinity, eating disorders and general pressures put on us by the media and how these factors altered the journeys of individual guests. They combine science and storytelling to talk about body image. She has also shared her body positivity on instagram and has also done just really cool things like been on Celebrity GoogleBox and got to go to Adele’s comeback show! If you haven’t heard of her work, you might know her as Jonathan Ross’ daughter.

She told us about all these different experiences and we were so grateful for her insight, which we hope is also valuable to anyone listening!

This is our 30th episode and Amy interviewed Jessica Dunne who is an activist with Fridays for Future, an Irish Second-level Students’ Union (ISSU) Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Regional Officer, the Irish delegate for Mock COP26 and TEDx speaker. She is a strong advocate for intersectionality within feminism and the climate movement whose image is part of the Herstory Light Show around Dublin and Kildare to celebrate St. Brigid's Day!

In the sleepover section, we caught up on each of our Midterms. We learned a lot from Jessica and particularly spoke about the progress towards equality and the inequalities that still exist for the LGBTQIA+ community, especially with Pride around the corner. We discussed how we try to make sure our actions are meaningful rather than performative. We hope you listen, learn and laugh with us!!

Andy Tomsa is our guest this week who we are so excited to chat to.

Andy is a 27 y old- volunteer at YMCA Romania and he was born in a fairly small town in the NW of Romania and Volunteered for the YMCA locally and nationally for over 10 years.

He currently volunteers at the border with YMCA Romania- helping in the refugee crisis- documenting and supporting the team right at the grassroots. We learned so much from his experience of supporting Ukrainians at the frontline borders. He also spoke about the importance of connection which really stood out to us!

We hope you enjoy, agree with our favourite Easter Eggs and finally, learn!

Jess Mally is a London based antiracism educator, writer, speaker, podcast host, creative and events producer, consultant and more. We were so delighted to welcome her to the Sustainable Sleepover Club and learn from her. In this hopeful and empowering conversation, we learned about the importance of each of our antiracism work individually and collectively, community, constantly learning and growing, imagination and much more. We also explored 2 concepts that Jess explained to us, the Beloved Community and the Healthy Human. In this episode, we highlight her incredible work which includes a wonderful podcast, blog, courses and much more which we urge you to look into! Each and every one of you actually ARE society and we hope this episode can be an introduction or even just a part of your constant journey towards dismantling white supremacy and racism! As always, we hope you both learn and enjoy!

We learned so much about Fionnuala’s journey through college, a career in media, veganism, climate justice education and of course, sustainable fashion. Her positive energy was so inspiring and she reminded each of us (& hopefully you too) of the power & influence we all have!

In the Sleepover section, (as well as sharing our passionate thoughts on pancakes…) we broke down the idea that sustainable living has to be for thin white younger women, expensive and minimalistic because sustainability looks different for EVERYONE! We spoke about including everyone in a greener society from preschoolers to the older generation. Personal changes can act as a catalyst, a way of entering into climate activism and we touched on how both individual and wider societal change are needed. Finally, Gabby shared with us some Irish for Seachtaine an Gaeilge. Go raibh Maith agat!

On this episode with talk to 18 year old Anjelica Foley about all things activism, Mental-health, Education, Equality, Climate Justice as well as her involvement with organisations such as Fridays for Future, SpunOut, ISSU, NYCI and everything in between.

TW: Sexual Violence

Gina Martin is a campaigner, speaker and a writer who is an ambassador for UN Women UK and Beyond Equality having changed the law in April 2019.

She has also published a book, ‘Be The Change’, her TED Talk is entitled ‘They told me to change my clothes. I changed the law instead’, is the writer of the newsletter ‘The Good Chat’ and also does much more writing, interviews, speaking and behind the scenes work!

We learned so much from this interview with Gina, especially about aiming to prevent sexual violence in society and we talked about the root causes and structures surrounding this issue. We hope you learn from all of our perspectives along with Gina’s incredible insights!

For this episode, we decided to do something very special. Instead of a guest, we recorded a book club chat where we each picked 2 books to discuss and recommend. If that isn’t exciting enough, we have a huge announcement for you to listen to at the beginning of this episode. We also talk about our favourite childhood books and being the week it was, Angela Davis’ birthday and Holocaust Remembrance Day. We hope you enjoy, learn and message us with your favourite books!

This episode was recorded on Friday the 21st of January and we had another fabulous guest, Saoirse Exton who began her work as a climate activist at the age of 13, when she founded the local branch of the Fridays for Future movement in her city. Saoirse is a member of the C40 Global Youth and Mayors' Forum, is currently serving her second term as Equality Officer of the Irish Second-Level Students' Union and has so many valuable insights we get to dive into in this episode!

We spoke about the importance of the Irish language, the land and our history but also why most of us don’t like the subject, about the upcoming Leaving Cert, our favourite Sustainable Sleepover Club memory as we approach one year of the podcast and much more!

Welcome back to the Sustainable Sleepover Club, what a great episode to begin 2022! We spoke to Emma Kelly who is a social care worker and fat activist. We were so thankful to her for sharing her knowledge, experiences and honesty; as you can tell from the sleepover section, we learned so much! Before you listen, we just want you to be aware that none of us are experts and any definitions given are simplified, personal versions. So, for this year, let’s focus on listening to our bodies and finding appreciation for everything we already are. We hope you enjoy and learn as always!

Our first Sustainable Sleepover Club Christmas Catch Up we talk about COP26, our first Live podcast, chocolates and New Years resolutions. 

In Episode 16, the sustainable sleepover club was joined by Kelvin Akapalo who is a spoken word artist, dancer, co-author of the published book We Have a Dream and a global education facilitator passionate about promoting human rights, inclusion, integration of minorities, and community and youth development through his work with the National Youth Council of Ireland and Internationally! He shared his story of migration with us, how he fell in love with spoken word, his dream, his superpowers and an incredible final message for every young person listening!

We chatted about all this and so much more in the Sustainable Sleepover club, from our favourite chocolate and how much this group means to us to the importance of stories and getting active! We hope you enjoy, laugh, sob and learn!

In this episode, Amy interviewed Theresa Rose Sebastian, a climate and social justice activist originally from Kerala, India but currently resides in the rebel city of Cork in Ireland. We discussed the term MAPA, COP26, our message to global leaders, our hopes, fears, climate anxiety and even our favourite biscuits! We hope you enjoy and get active for COP26 because everyone is needed in the movement!

In Episode 15, Amy interviewed Mark Healy and together, we discussed our understanding of peace and how it has changed, that terrorism isnt as easy to define as we would have thought, the power we hold as individuals while rethinking current power structures and above all, the importance of being an active citizen and of young people’s voices! We also embraced the sleepover feel, we discussed our zodiac signs, laughed and shared some incredible quotes!

Until everyone lives their life with every basic human right, our world is not at peace and we do not have justice. Lean into your anger to take action and reclaim your power! We hope that anyone listening feels empowered and encouraged to become involved, we hope this conversation helped and maybe share this episode with another young person!

In this episode we speak with the President of the Irish Second Level Students Union (ISSU), Emer Neville! She explained what the union is, why she ran for president, how you can get involved and so much more. In the sleepover, we chatted a lot about the cao and leaving cert along with the junior cert reform and career guidance. We have pointed out an amazing resource on your options after leaving cert in 2021within the goal segment, so listen to find it!

This is our 12th episode and the Sustainable Sleepover Club are joined by Caitlin Lowry who runs Urcyberstylist, creating second hand bundles for customers! It is packed with shocking statistics on fast fashion, ways to develop a more sustainable  and unique wardrobe, our opinions of and experiences with fast fashion and we dive into the nuances of this issue! We hope this episode can kick start or be part of your entry into the fashion revolution and once again, enjoy the sleepover!

In this episode we focused on mental health with Aleesha Wiegandt! She explained what stigma actually means and how harmful it is around mental health as well as using her experiences and current practices to speak about the topic. In the Sustainable Sleepover Club we dove into what we do to mind our minds, the reality of self care and why it's so important to seek help! Listen to find out the Sustainable Development Goal this episode links to and instead of statistics, our host explained where to find support and resources! If you need this message, there can be brighter days ahead so reach out and start the journey to those better days!

This is our 10th episode with another amazing guest! Henna spoke about racism, discrimination, self love and wellness and how your insecurities are never due to your flaw, it is an insecurities manufactured by the patriarchy, capitalism or colonialism. Someone is profiting from your self hate so let’s practise self acceptance instead (Henna includes some amazing ways to do this)! In the Sustainable Sleepover Club, we went into this further in terms of beauty standards, history, rest, self-talk, transgender rights and so much more including our favourite icecream flavours!

This episode is on racism and inequalities with our guest. Haritha uses she/they pronouns and is a socialist activist with the International Socialist Alternative who helped establish Youth Against Racism and Inequality in Ireland. We discussed worker’s rights, capitalism, cancel culture and the history of racism. The goal that reflected this episode is goal 10, reduced inequalities and we include some amazing resources on this topic!

Mitzi has been an amazing guest and is an incredible activist. The goal that reflected this goal was climate action, goal 13. We discussed not only the affect climate change is having right now in Mapa, Most affected people and areas but also how harmful some of the climate action is to those who have been made vulnerable by exploitation. A just transition is needed globally because climate justice is social justice. That must include vaccine equity, indigenous leaders, farmers and Mapa. We need to uplift there voices because no one is voiceless, but they are not being listened to. The climate crisis is not only a worry for the future, it is the devastation right now.

Valery Molay is the amazing guest we spoke to this episode and she discussed her experience fighting for justice, climate change, system change and the goal we picked to best reflect this episode was reduced inequalities! This is such a rich episode and we hope you enjoy and learn from it too!

In this 2nd episode, we have our FIRST GUEST! It is the amazing advocate Alicia O’Sullivan. She talked about climate change, education and being a law student to just touch on the conversation she and our host, Amy, had. In the relaxed, sleepover section afterwards; we chatted about the interview and had even more brillant opinions to share. We picked one goal that stood out from this episode and explained it a little deeper, goal 4 which is quality education. We hope you enjoy our podcast and feel empowered to have conversations that challenge the entire school system with your friends as we did this week!

Welcome to the Sustainable Sleepover Club podcast!

We are young advocates chatting about our opinions of; and experiences with the Sustainable Development Goals and having lots of laughs. In this episode, we’ll explain what the goals are, we’ll introduce who’s involved and what this podcast will be like! We want to show that young people are having these conversations because this is our future too while making it really fun and accessible to listen to, in a way that resembles our usual conversations as a group of friends!

We hope you enjoy listening