Starting a charity at 14
“I started my own charity website, Idea4Aid, which is a platform where people can upload second-hand objects they don’t use anymore and pick a charity in its name.” – Yigit Ispir
Not afraid of a challenge
One of the most talked about aspects of Yigit’s Award achievements was the charity he set up. Yigit realised that often-what stops people from donating items to charity is they simply don’t have the time to go into a charity shop, he also saw a significant market for selling secondhand items online. These ideas combined with the push from his Award requiring him to complete his Voluntary Service section led to the creation of Idea4Aid.
On the website people can upload the item they want to sell; select the charity they want their money to be donated to and once the item sells a courier company will come and collect it. This innovative idea makes it as easy as possible for people to donate charities and do good for others. While the website has now gained traction, it took a lot of persistence from Yigit at first to spread the word about what he was trying to do and get his peers on board with his ideas.
In the early days before the website had taken off, Yigit would organise charity events at his school to get people excited about the concept of giving back. One initiative that proved a big hit was ‘Colours for Cancer’ which asked students to donate money into a box with one of their teacher’s names on it. The teacher whose box had the most donations in by the end of the day would dye their hair pink in aid of the Angelia Foundation, a charity that funds painless blood-testing for children with cancer in Bulgaria.
Preparation for the future
“I feel more disciplined as an individual as there is a lot of personal planning involved with the Award. I think I am more open to trying new things and making new experiences as I have found value in doing so. I have never done swimming competitively before or started my own organisation, however doing so led me to go to other countries and also meet new people whom I would never meet if I never took the initiative.
The Award helps to motivate me and organise my time better in order to achieve my goals I set from the beginning.” – Yigit Ispir
I started my own charity website, Idea4Aid, which is a platform where people can upload second-hand objects they don’t use anymore and pick a charity in its name."I feel more disciplined as an individual as there is a lot of personal planning involved with the Award. I think I am more open to trying new things and making new experiences as I have found value in doing so. I have never done swimming competitively before or started my own organisation, however doing so led me to go to other countries and also meet new people whom I would never meet if I never took the initiative. The Award helps to motivate me and organise my time better in order to achieve my goals I set from the beginning"
