Issue 225 - BT22 • BT23
Live Here Love Here Small Grant for SERC
South Eastern Regional College (SERC) have received a Live Here Love Here Small Grant to help support their work with local food banks. Paul Mercer, Principal Lecturer, School of Hospitality at SERC said, “We are delighted to have been awarded £1,670 funding under the Live Here Love Here Small Grants Scheme 2025. “Since 2021, SERC has partnered with food banks in the SERC community to combat food poverty. Our work has included catering for events, cookery demonstrations using food bank staples, and turning surplus food into frozen meals for users of the food banks. This new funding will help us expand our work through a Grow Your Own Vegetables project, where students with mild to moderate learning disabilities will help cultivate vegetables to Pictured following the Ards and North Down heat of Go Succeed: The Ultimate Pitch from left, judge Fiona O’Neill; overall winner Alexandra Mooney; Inclusive Entrepreneurship Award winner Fiona Matthan; Mayor of Ards and North Down, Councillor Gillian McCollum; Rising Star Award winner Hannah Crothers; and judges Claire Anketell and Derek Wright
Parents’ ASD aid app secures ‘The Ultimate Pitch’
A mum who has designed an app to support the parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has taken the top prize in the Ards and North Down heat of Go Succeed: The Ultimate Pitch. Alexandra Mooney from Newtownards came up with the idea for ND Nook after struggling to use the traditional materials she was given to support ASD for her own child. She secured £1,000 investment for her business, and a place in
the regional Ultimate Pitch Final next month where she’ll be in with the chance of an additional £5,000. The competition is organised by the government-backed enterprise support service Go Succeed. Alexandra said
traditional methods for dealing with ASD – from visual communications charts to schedules and timers - were cumbersome and outdated, while also taking up valuable space. Her idea for ND Nook is an app that provides
the same tools digitally in a form that can be easily transported and updated, for use in the home, on the go, and in education and hospital settings.
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support our food bank efforts. He added, “We plan to create four gardening groups for students at SERC Campuses in Bangor, Downpatrick, Lisburn and Newtownards. We want to empower participants through gardening which will in turn promote their personal growth and skill development and help improve their social skills through teamwork and friendship. “Poly tunnels are currently being installed in Bangor and Newtownards Campuses which will be followed by Downpatrick and Lisburn Campuses. Visit www.serc.ac.uk Real Learning for Real Life #BetterOffAtSERC.