The Soar Foundation
Our Story
Soar connects with teens to explore their inner character – follow their true path – and not what’s pushed on them from society, adults, peers and the media.
Everyone knows how tough it can be to be a teenager sometimes. Soar help young people confront their personal challenges so nothing gets in the way of their extraordinary potential. We see just how important this phase of being a teenager really is.
About Us
There is greatness within every teenager.
Sometimes silent, sometimes raging, sometimes shinning, sometimes stuck... it is there waiting to be discovered and encouraged.
We are Soar. We help teens discover who they are and what they can achieve.
We believe that exploration of the question “Who am I?” is a pathway to living an authentic life.
Soar connects with teens to explore their inner character – follow their true path – and not what’s pushed on them from society, adults, peers and the media.
Dare To Be Real.
Representing the teenage voice
If youre a teenager aged 13 to 18 and living in Ireland, please take this survey to give a voice to your experience. We want to hear from you.
Learn More about our research
Transparency and governance
Transparency is not just a buzz word we throw around. Soar is committed to respecting the support we are shown by operating with integrity. It is at the core of everything we do.
At Soar, we’re an open book
What does Soar do?
Soar delivers day long programmes to teenagers in the school system. Our programmes comprise of four unique key elements that are designed to provide engaging, authentic, and transformative environments for young people. Our programs are underpinned by key indicators of wellbeing delivered by world class facilitators.
Learn More about our workshops
Our Roots
In 2012, our two co-founders, Tony Griffin and Karl Swan, set about fixing a problem becoming very evident amongst our teenagers. Ireland was still recovering from a recession and people were struggling. The adults were pessimistic about the future, and it was starting to rub off on the country’s young people. The need to create supporting environments for these young people became essential.
After seeing the documentary, “Every Heart Beats True”, a story about Dublin Footballer and Aussie Rules Legend, Jim Stynes, they decided their next steps should be to approach The Reach Foundation in Melbourne. Reach was co-founded by Jim to positively disrupt what had gone before. They created brave, innovative, teenage-centric environments where young people got to share their truth and believe their future destinies were in their own hands.
Having studied their work and inspired to provide similar for Ireland’s struggling teens, Soar was created. We have worked with over 55,000 young people since 2012, and we’re just getting started.
Our Values
We are a passionate and purposeful team of leaders unified in our belief in the potential within every teenager. Our vision is to establish a society empowering teenagers to fulfil their potential and enrich the world. Our values guide everything we do and say.
On the Level - We meet each teenager on their level, never assuming we know better than them or speaking on their behalf. We respectfully hold each other accountable to create a safe environment for all as we strive for the highest standards in everything we do.
Being real - It matters to us that we practise what we advocate. As we invite teenagers to be themselves, we consciously choose to show up as our true selves.
Boldly exploring - A key part of our role is to embody and model who we are, while always challenging ourselves and taking steps outside our comfort zone. We do this to create environments where teenagers can feel safe and motivated to explore their inner character.
