by Bernie English [email protected]
A COUNTY Limerick teenager has come up with an invention which is not only a potential life-saver for homeless people but has also spawned a new business that’s helping people get back into the workforce.
15-year old Desmond College student, Emily Duffy’s entry for this year’s Young Scientist Exhibition was a waterproof, flame proof sleeping bag aimed at homeless people which could also be useful in helping with the refugee crisis.
The bag, which has been nicknamed the Duffily Bag, is made of metallic fireproof bubble wrap to provide a waterproof layer for people sleeping on rain-soaked streets. Reflective strips improve visibility, and velcro fastenings mean the user can enter and exit the bag easily.
Emily had assessed the problems with existing sleeping bags and addressed them one-by-one.
A charity has teamed up with the Newcastle West student to make the bags and versions have been distributed to people using the Merchant’s Quay Night Café service on the city’s quays.
They’re also being used by some people who choose to bed down in streets and parks rather than access any of the emergency accommodation centres.
Meanwhile, production of the bags is providing employment for former street drinkers who are trying to get off the streets and back into the workforce. in a project set up by the charity.
Former street-drinkers from Eastern Europe are employed at the workshop in Dublin’s Mendicity Institute.
Following step-by-step instructions, they work in pairs to construct the finished product from the raw material provided at cost price by Chadwicks of Lucan.
The workers, generally, arrive at the charity’s base after completing the Simon Community’s detox programme. At €20, they’re paid just over the minimum wage for each two-hour session at the workshop.
Five men have been through the programme so far. Two have found work, one has found temporary work, and another is starting a job next week.
This is not the Limerick student’s first practical and innovative product to gain attention at the Young Scientist Exhibition. Last year, Emily produced a disposable nappy which could alert parents to illness in their babies.
