At The Tara Building, social impact is a core part of our mission. We believe strongly in the power of community to make meaningful change in the world, and we endeavour to support people and organisations that are making a positive impact. We do this by providing workspace, meeting space, event space, and community support to people and organisations, free of charge, as part of our Social Impact Residency. We’re now delighted to introduce our first partnership under this Social Impact Residency programme: The Soar Foundation.
The Soar Foundation is an Irish charity empowering young people to reach their potential. Like many Irish businesses, Soar moved out of its offices during the pandemic. Once life returned to normal, the Soar team really struggled to find somewhere to make their own.
The Tara Building houses hot desks, private offices, meeting rooms, event spaces, and a beautiful roof garden – but most importantly, it is home to a community of curious, creative, and passionate people. We had a real opportunity to help Soar find a new home from which to continue their important work.
We have been impressed by Soar’s work for years, and are delighted to offer the team a new home under our Social Impact Residency programme. The Soar team have been here since May, enjoying their first six months rent-free, after which they will avail of a discounted membership rate. In exchange, Soar will offer taster wellness workshops to other residents of the building, who work in a wide range of sectors from marketing, to web development, to coaching and recruitment.
Soar is a collective movement which believes that there is greatness within all young people.
Mark McDonnell, Director of Soar says, “Having an uplifting space like The Tara Building to connect in-person since May has been a real energetic shot in the arm for our team. Soar is an organisation built to create authentic environments for Teenagers to come together and connect so it’s essential we create similar environments for us to thrive as a team. Soar deliver workshops with real emotional depth to teenagers which can be demanding for our team. Coming together twice a week to support each other, have in-person planning and operational meetings, and feel that camaraderie allows us to be working at our best.”
“The partnership works very well as the entire Soar team has access to hot desks and meeting space every Monday and Friday for a six-month residency. The meeting space enables us to have our full team together to plan for the week ahead, with the hot desks available for smaller breakout groups to work from depending on the projects or workshops we are delivering that week. As we are typically delivering workshops to teenagers all over the country from Tuesday to Thursday, Friday is a great opportunity to come together and bookend the week as a group. To have this residency in a vibrant and comfortable space provided by the Tara team who genuinely care about our mission, not only demonstrates great leadership but also gives great confidence to our team and reflects the ambition we have as an organisation.”
Soar creates and delivers early intervention, character development workshops for young people aged 13 to 18 years from all backgrounds.
In the words of Claire Gavin, our General & Marketing Manager, “Supporting impactful work and those purposefully addressing social challenges in Ireland has always been a key commitment of ours. We are delighted to continue honouring this commitment by welcoming the Soar team to The Tara Building as part of our six-month Social Impact Residency. Their values, passion and energy are a fantastic addition to the Tara community. In addition to supporting and learning more about Soar’s meaningful work, we’re looking forward to giving Tara members a taster of what Soar do through a series of specially curated workshops. We are very proud of our Social Impact Residency programme and would be keen to see this model of leadership replicated in other co-working spaces.”
Mc Donnell continued “As with every partnership Soar enters into, we want it to be a collaborative and mutually beneficial arrangement. Soar specialises in creating environments that are non-judgemental and psychologically safe for Teenagers to increase self-awareness, build emotional resilience, and develop their inner confidence. The realness of these conversations has a huge impact on the group as it builds greater mutual understanding and empathy for each other, therefore growing deeper and longer-lasting connections. We want to do the same for the Tara community. We will be running fun and engaging workshops for the Tara community throughout our residency based on some of the key elements of our programmes.”
Partnerships are essential to Soar’s long-term sustainability and they depend on funding and expertise from a wide range of sources to keep their work going. By partnering with Soar, businesses are offered the chance to make a significant contribution toward empowering the next generation of young people in Ireland.
The Tara Building is a home for social impact, sustainability, and creative arts projects.
Thank you to The Business Post for featuring this partnership between The Tara Building and Soar.
If you’re working on an impactful project that needs support – whether that’s via workspace, event space, meeting space, community support, or all of the above – we’d love to hear from you. Contact us today or find out more about our Social Impact, Sustainability, and Creative Arts residencies here.
