Pitch Fest Winner IVY Turns €5K Grant into Powerful Prevention Tools for Youth

Last March, IVY – Interrupting Violence towards Youth, a service within the St Jeanne Antide Foundation, pitched its project during the Annual Academy of Givers’ Pitch Fest, an initiative carried out within our Annual Conference to give NGOs a platform for their projects and mission to be known.

The public vote resulted in IVY being awarded the prize of €5,000, sponsored by Betsson Group, to support the expansion of its work. This funding is now fuelling the development of innovative, youth-centred tools that promote healthy relationships and prevent intimate partner violence.

The "IVY’s Handbook for Healthy Relationships" has long served as a practical and empowering resource in Maltese and English. Now, they're taking this work further thanks to the opportunity provided by the Pitch Fest prize.

Recognising that true accessibility goes beyond language, IVY is translating and culturally adapting the handbook for Spanish, Hindi, and Arabic-speaking communities. This is more than translation — it’s transformation. They’ve partnered not only with professional translators but also with cultural mediators who ensure the content respects and reflects the lived realities, values, and safety considerations within each culture. This sensitive, thoughtful approach strengthens connection, trust, and impact, especially for youth from diverse backgrounds navigating complex relational dynamics.

Alongside the handbook initiative, IVY is developing an exciting new tool: the IVY Interactive Workshop Kit. This immersive, boardgame-style experience is designed to teach young people about key relationship topics — like consent, self-worth, and healthy boundaries — in a way that’s both fun and transformative.

Key elements already in progress include:

• Sourcing vibrant, oversized rolling dice and interactive materials;
• Collaborating with a team of experts (a youth worker, social worker, and domestic violence psychologist) to shape the kit's educational content;
• Drafting design concepts for the large playmat component.

Next steps involve meeting with suppliers to finalise the design and bring this vision to life, all while ensuring every activity is backed by professional insight and aligned with youth learning needs.

These ongoing efforts — combining cultural adaptation, professional guidance, and creative engagement — are part of IVY’s broader commitment to prevention and early intervention in domestic and intimate partner violence. By investing in tools that resonate with young people across cultures, they aim to spark meaningful conversations, build resilience, and create ripple effects that lead to safer, healthier adult relationships in the future.

IVY wishes to extend its gratitude to Betsson Group for providing the prize, and Academy of Givers is happy to keep supporting such initiatives and giving resonance to great organisations through the annual Pitch Fest.