SpunOut.ie Impact Report 2018

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IMPACT REPORT 2018


By young people, for young people. Our Vision An Ireland where young people are empowered with the information needed to live active, happy, healthy lives.

Our Mission To empower young people throughout Ireland with information, tools, resources, and opportunities to enable informed decision-making and facilitate positive change in our lives and in our communities.

Our Funders


Our Values Our values inform everything we do by ensuring our work reflects a shared purpose and core ethos: We are by young people, for young people We are inclusive We are rights-based We are independent We are holistic We are authentic We are creative We are innovative We are dynamic

Our Partners


04


Contents 06 Introduction 08

Theory of Change

10

Measurement Framework

12

The Year at a Glance

17

Top Content

24

Digital Marketing

25

Content Production

27

Youth Participation - SpunOut.ie Action Panels

31

Volunteer Development

35

Youth Worker Engagement

36

Other Activities and Projects in 2018

40

Who We Are

05


Introduction For well over a decade, SpunOut.ie has been a leading resource for reliable, nonjudgemental, youth-centered information in Ireland. In 2018 we had more readers than ever before, made major strides in implementing our three-year strategic plan, and implemented a new measurement framework to track how our content supports, informs and positively impacts our readers’ lives. As we look to maximise that impact, it’s more important than ever that our information is relevant, reliable and at the highest standard of quality. We know that the vast majority (91%) of our readers are satisfied with the quality of the content on SpunOut.ie, while even more (93%) approve of our current language and tone. But we also know that keeping our information up-to-date and accessible requires our constant attention. That is why 2018 saw us undertake our most extensive site-wide content audit to date, creating a new baseline from which to continually refresh the information we provide through yearly audits, new content policies and in-built re-validation schedules.

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Being able to recognise and respond to the issues young people face in real time is key to empowering our readers in a meaningful way.

Jack Deacon Deputy Director SpunOut.ie

In 2018, we made significant leaps forward in how we monitor, track and respond to rapidly-shifting needs, not least through the addition of a new Digital Communications Manager. This has dramatically increased our ability to get real-time insights into what young people are searching for online, and ensures we are more responsive in providing our readers with support. How we reach young people through our social media channels has also changed. In 2018 we hired our first staff member with a singular focus on Instagram and Snapchat. From creating our own bespoke multimedia material for social, we have seen a large increase in PPV impressions and traffic from both these platforms. This is greatly improving our capacity to meet the challenge of the changing demographics on Facebook.


Our top performing content in 2018 shows a large variety of topics finding relevance with our audience, with pieces on sexual health, rights, mental health, employment, education, alcohol and drugs all receiving thousands of hits. Delving deeper, we can see that traffic to our ‘Help’ section, which signposts to support services all across Ireland, grew by 56%.

This year also saw SpunOut.ie take a leading role within the successful Together For Yes campaign. We believe that young people have the right to non-judgemental, factual information in language and formats they can intuitively understand, and our Action Panel echoed this by resoundingly voting to support the right to bodily autonomy.

This year we took a more structured approach to volunteering opportunities, leading to more active and engaged volunteers than ever before. We expanded our volunteering options into three distinct pathways: content contributor, youth reporter, and proofreader. Another key change was onboarding all our volunteers and Board members to Slack, ensuring a clear, centralised means of communication organisation-wide.

We are by young people, for young people. We are inspired by our reader’s positive comments on how we are doing, and encouraged to continue to strive to benefit all young people. This Impact Report shows that in 2018 we grew readership by 22% and continued to achieve high levels of reader satisfaction. However, we know we can continue to do even better and keep pushing the envelope for excellence in youth information.

This Impact Report shows that in 2018 we grew readership by 22% and continued to achieve high levels of reader satisfaction.

Thank you to every young person who contributes to SpunOut.ie through volunteering, writing, reading and engaging with us. Thank you to the incredibly hard-working, talented and effervescent staff team who have made the results on these pages possible. And thank you to the Board and Action Panel who generously give their time to lead SpunOut.ie and ensure we continue to empower young people in Ireland to lead active, happy, healthy lives.

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08

Non-readers

Low

Passive readers

Engagement

Trust

• Parents, teachers and other third parties can play a useful signposting role, but this also has the potential to backfire

• Low literacy • Lack of access to ICT (poor broadband, poverty, parental control, etc)

• Publicise site in a way that appeals to young people • Use diverse promotional strategies for a diverse audience • Stand out from the crowd • Make effective use of former SpunOut.ie readers and volunteers • Work with relevant partners • Provide an accessible, visually attractive, user-friendly site

Know that SpunOut.ie exists

Are able to access SpunOut.ie

• Overly focused on other things • Not understanding the consequences of failing to find information • Seeking information from untrustworthy sources

Want to find information

Barriers and risks • Not comprehending the importance of having information • Not recognising they have a right to information

SpunOut.ie

Are aware that they lack information

Young people

Young people feel more supported

Outcomes

This how we believe we achieve our mission of empowering young people with information

Theory of Change

FRAMEWORK


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High

Medium

Become active members of the SpunOut.ie community

Take leading roles in SpunOut.ie and act as ambassadors

Volunteers

Action Panel members

• Facilitate and support Action Panel • Provide meaningful but fun opportunities to engage over time

• Encourage and facilitate direct involvement • Be inclusive

• Not feeling that their input is being taken seriously • Not having sufficient time to devote to the Action Panel

• Economic and geographic barriers • Not having the confidence to volunteer • Not feeling welcomed or supported

• Returning to being a passive reader

• Always be dynamic, innovative and creative • Encourage sharing of content

Are further inspired by Spunout.ie

Young people make more positive life choices

• Not being motivated to act • Not having the self-esteem to act • Not being in an environment that allows them to act • Having a poor experience as a result of acting on information from the site • Returning to being a non-user

• Provide information on possible next steps • Be realistic about possible shortcomings of other service providers to which readers may be directed

Act on the information on SpunOut. ie

Active readers

Young people are more informed

• Believing that SpunOut.ie is too closely aligned with particular viewpoints or organisations • Charity scandals • Not feeling that their personal issues and experiences are reflected on the site

• Stress the organisation’s independence and peer-to-peer model • Provide authentic, credible, relevant, comprehensive, non-judgemental, holistic, meaningful information • Highlight the use of professional and peer reviewers for quality assurance • Follow the ERYICA Principles of Online Youth Information • Consult with relevant partners about the information needs of specific groups • Be transparent

Consume information on SpunOut. ie


Developed with the support of Sandra Velthuis of Whitebarn Consulting

Measurement Framework Outcome

Young people feel more supported

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Type

Metrics

Media monitoring

Date, media type, topic, channel/ publication, show, audience reach, duration/page, sentiment, hyperlink, times, related campaign, international/ national/regional/local/community media

Monitoring of outreach activities

Number of events, footfall, number engaged, link to related campaign, workshop attendance, workshop feedback surveys

How users are accessing site

Google AdWords clicks and spend data, % accessing from a mobile device, inbound social media traffic and spend data, social media traffic aggregated and expressed as a % of total traffic

Headline website usage statistics

Total sessions and uniques, including % of new sessions, by age and gender

Headline social media usage statistics

Number of Facebook new likes, Twitter new followers, YouTube subscribers (including new subscribers, by gender), Instagram new followers, Snapchat new followers

Annual reader survey questions

Location, gender, age (with a follow-on question for over-25s), relationship with SpunOut.ie, social media channels used, extent to which they feel supported


This is how we measure our performance against our mission of empowering young people with information. All of the data in this impact report is derived from Google Analytics (content statistics) and the annual survey of readers (demographics, satisfaction and outcomes) with 1,515 respondents completing the survey in 2018.

Outcome

Young people are more informed

Young people make more positive life choices

Type

Metrics

Content listing

Type, category, section on site, related campaign, with title and hyperlink

Content monitoring

Volume created, number of page views, pages per visit, scroll depth, avg. time on site

Reader satisfaction

Reader survey questions (Satisfaction with quality, relevance, language/tone, social media presence) and ‘Was this article helpful?’ question on content

Video

YouTube views, Facebook views, Instagram views, minutes watched, avg. view duration

Annual reader survey questions

Extent to which readers feel informed

Listing of active individuals

Action Panel members (retention, duration of term), contributors (volume of content generated, skills development events attended) and other volunteers

Annual reader survey questions

Extent to which SpunOut.ie has led them to make better life choices, willingness for their individual story to be used as a case study, space for additional comments

Individual stories

Case studies

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The Year at a Glance Reader Numbers

SpunOut.ie increased its reach by over 230,000 readers in 2018 compared to the previous year and recorded an average of over 151,000 website visits per month.

31%

MORE VISITS TO SPUNOUT.IE

25.8%

22.1%

2,468,001 pages viewed in 2018

1,277,457 readers in 2018

MORE PAGES VIEWED

FEBRUARY

1,812,124 website visits in 2018

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MORE READERS

OUR BUSIEST DAY

SpunOut.ie attracted 24,461 readers on February 25th 2018

Content 2,109 432 PIECES OF NEW CONTENT

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ARTICLES REVIEWED & UPDATED


Traffic Sources 40%

Social Media

1%

I feel I’m better informed at times where I’ve felt lost and unsure how to approach certain things. Female reader from Cavan Age 19-21

Other Websites

7%

Direct Traffic

38%

14%

Google Search

Google Ads

Social Media Channels

90%

For questions I’m too scared to ask, SpunOut.ie is there. Female reader from Wexford Age 16-18

Facebook

7%

Instagram

3%

Twitter

It eases anxiety by giving you the reality of how all young people go through these worries. Male reader from Dublin Age 22-25

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The Year at a Glance Every year SpunOut.ie conducts a survey of our readers with over 1,500 respondents completing the survey in 2018. We use this valuable feedback to improve and tailor our content and service to meet the needs of all the young people who read our site, from those who visit or volunteer regularly to those who may only visit on occasion.

Reader Satisfaction 91% of readers are satisfied with the quality of content 93% of readers are satisfied with the language/tone of content 92% of readers are satisfied with the relevance of content 89% of readers are satisfied with our social media presence

Depth of Engagement

Reader Outcomes Occasional reader

92% felt that SpunOut.ie was a source of support to them 99% felt informed by SpunOut.ie 84% felt SpunOut.ie has led them to make better decisions in their lives

Regular reader

93% felt that SpunOut.ie was a source of support to them 99% felt informed by SpunOut.ie 90% felt SpunOut.ie has led them to make better decisions in their lives

Regular reader & sharer Regular reader, sharer, and volunteer

98% felt that SpunOut.ie was a source of support to them 99% felt informed by SpunOut.ie 93% felt SpunOut.ie has led them to make better decisions in their lives 100% felt that SpunOut.ie was a source of support to them 100% felt informed by SpunOut.ie 96% felt SpunOut.ie has led them to make better decisions in their lives

SpunOut.ie gives non judgemental advice on all issues young people face in Ireland. Female reader from Dublin Age 19-21

SpunOut.ie talks about issues that all teenagers face but may not want to talk about. It’s nice to know you’re not the only one feeling stressed or down and that there’s support out there. Female reader from Meath Age 16-18

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GENDER OF READERS

40% Male

59%

Female

1%

Other

(with non-binary being the most common self-descriptor in this category)

The gender split has equalised somewhat since 2017. The ‘other’ category has decreased from 2% in 2017, with non-binary being the most common self-descriptor in this category

AGE OF READERS

51% 30% 2% 15 or younger 16 - 18

19 - 21

13%

22 - 25

4% 25 or older

SpunOut.ie continues to appeal particularly to people in their mid-late teens. The size of the 16-18 and 22-25 age groups have stayed steady since 2017. There has been a slight growth in the proportional size of the 19-21 age group. The majority of those in the 26 and older age group work with young people, but this is closely followed by those who are parents/guardians of young people and by those who are SpunOut.ie readers in their own right.

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Geography

0.5% Leitrim

1.9%

1.1% 1.1%

Donegal

1.1%

Roscommon

2.8%

Monaghan

2.4%

1.4%

Cavan

Sligo

3.1%

Mayo

Louth

3.5%

Meath

0.9%

2.8%

Longford

Westmeath

5.8%

25.4%

Galway

Dublin

5.3% Kildare

2.1%

4.2%

Clare

Wicklow

3.2%

1.8%

Tipperary

Carlow

3.6%

3.5%

2.9% 2.4% Kilkenny

Limerick

Wexford

Waterford

2.6% Kerry

11.8%

2.8% Laois

Cork

I like to go to SpunOut.ie to read articles because they’re a lot more relevant to me than other English or American sites, because they’re directed towards young people in Ireland. Female reader from Dublin Age 19-21

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Top Content Top 20 Most Read SpunOut.ie Pages of 2018 1

List of free STI clinics in Ireland

54,096 readers

2

Your rights when being searched by the Gardaí

42,233 readers

3

So you think you’re not addicted to smoking?

40,360 readers

4

Your rights and the Gardaí

35,272 readers 32,013 readers

5

Take our quiz on minimum ages in Ireland

6

Jobseeker’s Allowance and Jobseeker’s Benefit

29,231 readers

7

11 common myths about sex

29,096 readers

8

Register To Vote

28,130 readers

9

The effects of social media on mental health

28,061 readers

10 Sample cover letter 11

23,148 readers

Who qualifies for Carer’s Allowance?

23,135 readers

12 Drugs and the law

22,399 readers

13 Curious about Curious Cat? 14 Work rights for under 18s

21,061 readers 20,191 readers

Social welfare guide for lone parents How to support a friend doing exams

19,027 readers 17,299 readers

19,711 readers

Everything you need to know about CAO offers

16,382 readers

How does the US government work?

14,345 readers

Where can I find a job?

14,311 readers *Source:@ Google Analytics

Articles posted by SpunOut.ie have helped me through stressful times and have helped to teach me how to deal with certain situations better than I would have. Female reader from Dublin Age 16-18

SpunOut.ie covers some topics you wouldn’t know who to ask about and it provides a great source of advice and support. Female reader from Galway Age 16-18

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Health The Health section on SpunOut.ie provides young people with the information they need to look after their health and wellbeing. The section covers a broad range of topics including mental health, sexual health, alcohol and drugs, healthy eating and exercise, smoking, and other areas.

43%

I read some articles around sexual health which developed helped me make decisions especially around contraception. Female reader from Dublin Age 22-25

1%

7%

Other Websites

Other

23%

Google Ads

Social Media

⊲ Readership of Health content grew by 24% in 2018 ⊲ 33% of pages viewed by our readers in 2018 were from the Health section

Search Engines

26%

SpunOut.ie is like a support system where you can research a worry you have and check what to do about it and in turn leads to better choices. Male reader from Dublin Age 19-21

Top 10 Most Read Health Pages in 2018 1

List of free STI clinics in Ireland

54,096 readers

2

So you think you’re not addicted to smoking?

40,360 readers

3

11 common myths about sex

29,096 readers

4

The effects of social media on mental health

28,061 readers

5

Drugs and the law

22,399 readers

6

What happens when you mix alcohol and drugs?

7

Recipe Generator

8

10 ways to get a solid night’s sleep

10,197 readers

9

What happens when I take cocaine or crack?

9,074 readers

10 How to cook a Chicken Curry *Source:@ Google Analytics

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19,711 readers 12,684 readers

8,713 readers


Mental Health

Articles about mental health have given me useful and honest advice about looking after my own mental wellbeing and how to support others. Male reader from Dublin Age 22-25

3%

9%

Other Websites

Other

27%

Google Ads

27%

Search Engines

⊲ Readership of Mental Health content grew by 8% in 2018 ⊲ 5% of pages viewed by our readers in 2018 were from the Mental Health pages within the Health section

34%

Social Media

The Mental Health section offers specific information to young people on mental health challenges, finding support for mental health issues, as well as advice for supporting others who are struggling with mental health difficulties. This section does not include content on maintaining positive mental health and protective factors, these are included in the Health section.

After reading an article about depression and how to cope with it, I started using the tips I read about and they eventually stopped me from taking my own life during a very dark time for me. Male reader from Cork Age 16-18

Top 10 Most Read Mental Health Pages in 2018 1

Dealing with depression

9,485 readers

2

Panic Attacks

6,745 readers

3

Positive mental health

4

Affordable treatment for mental health

4,348 readers

5

Dealing with anxiety

3,995 readers

6

3,683 readers

7

I’m feeling suicidal. What should I do?

8

How can I tell that someone is thinking of suicide?

2,846 readers

9

What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)?

2,759 readers

10 Understanding and recognising eating disorders

7,421 readers

2,911 readers

2,747 readers

*Source:@ Google Analytics

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Education

The articles on the CAO helped me fill mine out with my Mam and Dad. Female reader from Kildare Age 16-18

27%

27% 8% Other

Other Websites

Google Ads

1% Search Engines

⊲ Readership of Education content grew by 21% in 2018 ⊲ 5% of pages viewed by our readers in 2018 were from the Education section

37%

Social Media

The Education section provides information and support to young people from the senior level of school through to college. It also offers advice on all forms of education, different routes to college/ work, studying and exams, and returning to education.

Articles such as ones about your choices after school have provoked me to consider everything and know all my options. Female reader from Louth Age 16-18

Top 10 Most Read Education Pages in 2018 1

How to support a friend doing exams

17,299 readers

2

Everything you need to know about CAO offers

16,382 readers

3

Could a PLC course be right for you?

6,990 readers

4

How to handle exam results anxiety and stress

3,636 readers

5

10 tips on filling out your CAO application

2,939 readers

6

Things to keep in mind on your first day of college

2,680 readers

7

Your guide to surviving college exams

2,588 readers

8

How to live with your procrastination

2,398 readers

9

Test your knowledge of CAO facts and deadlines

2,146 readers

10 Important dates for your CAO

20

*Source:@ Google Analytics

2,016 readers


Employment

SpunOut.ie has helped me prepare for job interviews which I am grateful for. Female reader from Kildare age 16-18

1%

6%

Other Websites

Other

Google Ads

28%

21%

Search Engines

⊲ Readership of Employment content grew by 13% in 2018 ⊲ 12% of pages viewed by our readers in 2018 were from the Employment section

45%

Social Media

SpunOut.ie’s employment section aims to give young people confidence when looking for work and while in the workplace. The section covers everything from writing CVs and preparing for interviews, to rights as a worker and workplace schemes.

I’m no longer feeling socially awkward. I’ve made so many new friends. I also now have a job in retail which involves a lot of customer service. I never would have gotten through the interview never mind the job if it wasn’t for SpunOut.ie. Female reader from Louth Age 16-18

Top 10 Most Read Employment Pages in 2018 1

Jobseeker’s Allowance and Jobseeker’s Benefit

29,231 readers

2

Sample cover letter

23,148 readers

3

Who qualifies for Carer’s Allowance? 23,135 readers

4

Where can I find a job?

5

How can I leave my job?

14,311 readers 13,057 readers

6

How to spend your summer if you can’t find a summer job

12,571 readers

7

How to write a CV

11,952 readers

8

How to answer interview questions 11,136 readers

9

Sample CV

9,064 readers

10 How do I write a cover letter? 7,095 readers *Source:@ Google Analytics

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Life

⊲ Readership of Life content grew by 43% in 2018 ⊲ 17% of pages viewed by our readers in 2018 were from the Life section

38%

Google Ads

Search Engines

Social Media

11%

0%

7% Other

44%

Other Websites

SpunOut.ie’s Life section covers content that young people need in their daily lives. From information on accommodation, online safety and politics to relationships and LGBTI+ issues, Life helps young people to make informed decisions daily.

SpunOut.ie has all the important things that no educator has gone through with us, such as my CV, P60... everything.

SpunOut.ie showed me articles about my rights whilst in contact with the Gardaí and they make you less worried about these situations in the future.

Female reader from Kildare Age 19-21

Male reader from Kilkenny Age 16-18

Top 10 Most Read Life Pages in 2018 1

Your rights when being searched by the Gardaí 42,233 readers

2

Your rights and the Gardaí

35,272 readers

3

Take our quiz on minimum ages in Ireland

32,013 readers

4

Register To Vote

28,130 readers

5

Curious about Curious Cat? 21,061 readers

6

Work rights for under 18s

20,191 readers

7

Social welfare guide for lone parents

19,027 readers

8

Am I in a toxic relationship? 12,031 readers

9

How to find student accommodation

10 The facts on family income supplement

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*Source:@ Google Analytics

10,027 readers 7,912 readers


Opinion SpunOut.ie is a firm believer in the power of young people to support and educate one another. The Opinion section includes articles, videos and podcasts created by young people from across Ireland. The Opinion section is an opportunity for young people to share their experiences, stories, advice and opinions on issues that matter to them.

53%

There are many resources on SpunOut.ie and hearing people’s stories makes me feel like I’m not alone. Female reader from Cork Age 16-18

1%

8% Other

Google Ads

Social Media

⊲ Readership of Opinion content grew by 24% in 2018 ⊲ 16% of pages viewed by our readers in 2018 were from the Opinion section

Search Engines

6%

Other Websites

32%

Seeing other people’s experiences has made me more aware of how I can live my life well. Female reader from Dublin Age 16-18

Top 10 Most Read Opinion Pages in 2018 1

The effects of social media on mental health

28,061 readers

2

How does the US government work?

14,345 readers

3

7 tips on feeling better when life has you feeling down

13,812 readers

4

My college experience as a commuter

13,159 readers

5

The movies that help me when I’m feeling down

9,329 readers

6

Recognising flaws in your relationship with alcohol

8,621 readers

7

Not being a man’s man

6,599 readers

8

Summer job hunting

6,288 readers

9

Finding that summer job

10 My top 5 tips to relax when feeling anxious *Source:@ Google Analytics

5,791 readers 5,648 readers

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Digital Marketing Site Performance & Data Focus SpunOut.ie has grown its readership substantially in 2018. More than 1.3 million readers were recorded in 2018, a growth of 22.1% from 2017. SpunOut. ie had an average of 151,010 site visits a month in 2018, up 31%. The addition of a new Digital Communications Manager in Q4 of 2018 allowed SpunOut.ie to improve how it collects and utilises data for decision making. Keyword research and user behaviour data has been incorporated into our content processes, allowing us to better anticipate and address young people’s information needs.

Social Media Traffic Social media accounted for 40% of traffic to SpunOut.ie in 2018. Of this, Facebook delivered 90% and a total of 926,616 users. However, Facebook’s position as SpunOut.ie’s primary social platform began to change as the year progressed.

When the posts that interest me come up on my Facebook or Instagram feed, I click in and they’re always very informative. Female reader from Cavan Age 22-25

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While Instagram accounted for 7% of total traffic from social media in 2018, two thirds of that traffic came in Q4. SpunOut.ie reached 566,606 users on Instagram in 2018, with the average user seeing 8 posts from SpunOut.ie during 2018. Twitter accounted for 3% of traffic from social and was an outstanding source of engagement and amplification, with tweets from SpunOut.ie receiving 2,805 retweets in 2018. The hiring of a dedicated Social Media Multimedia Producer in Q3 is allowing SpunOut.ie to adapt proactively to the changes in how young people are accessing information over social media. To put this into context, all of SpunOut.ie’s paid social traffic from Facebook/ Instagram in Q1 2018 came from ads in a user’s newsfeed. By Q4 2018, 35% of the same traffic was coming from instagram or snapchat story placements.

Search Engine Traffic Search engines accounted for 52% of traffic to SpunOut.ie in 2018, with 14% coming via Google Ads, and 38% through organic search traffic. A very strong growth rate of 31% in organic search represents the impact of the major program of reviewing and updating existing content throughout 2018.


Content Production SpunOut.ie Content Production Process The following is the process by which content is published on SpunOut.ie: 1. A topic/issue is identified by our Action Panels or through keyword research 2. The content team research and write the factsheet 3. The factsheet is sent to at least two subject matter experts for review 4. Once reviewed, the factsheet is sent to young people for proofing 5. The factsheet is reviewed internally and signed off 6. The finished article is published

HSE Campaigns In the latter half of 2018, we ran six information campaigns on key topic areas around health and wellbeing. This included creation of new content and promotion of existing content on: ⊲ Self Harm Reduction ⊲ Suicide Prevention ⊲ Promoting Healthy Living ⊲ Promoting Positive Mental Health ⊲ Reducing Alcohol Harm ⊲ Encouraging Smoking Cessation (QUIT)

In the past I have asked some serious questions online into Google and SpunOut.ie has appeared as a link and given me some well needed advice and help. Female reader from Galway Age 16-18

Content Audit In order to make sure our readers have access to up-to-date, reliable information, we carried out a full audit of our 3,000+ factsheets and opinion pieces in 2018 to ensure a high standard of tone, relevancy, and quality

Action Panel Content The Action Panel are an important part of the content process. Their ideas and opinions help to shape what direction we take with the content on SpunOut.ie, and the discussions they have in meetings lead to content ideas for the site. In 2018, across the four Regional Action Panels, we received 70 title suggestions. Each one of these articles went through the same content production process as any other factsheet on the site. Consulting the Action Panel allows us to be in tune with the information needs of young people and create the content that they want to read.

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Content Production...continued Multimedia Content Longer form Video Content In 2018 we created 94 pieces of long form video content. Health based content accounted for 38.5% of the videos. Life based content accounted for 29.9% of the videos. News based content accounted for 15.4% of the videos. Employment based content accounted for 7.7% of the videos. Education based content accounted for 7.1% of the videos. Opinion based content accounted for 1.4% of the videos.

Stories

In September 2018 we began creating short form story content on social media. Over four months we created 32 stories. Life based stories accounted for 10% Opinion based stories accounted for 20% Employment based stories accounted for 10% News based stories accounted for 30% Health based stories accounted for 20% Education based stories accounted for 10%

SpunOut.ie covers so many topics and yet manages to put so much detail into each article. There’s no dancing around the subject and articles are well thought out, offering new perspectives on issues. Female reader from Kildare Age 16-18

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No nonsense advice on difficult decisions in life is provided on the site regularly. Always fair and unbiased, qualities which are hard to find on online sites these days. Male reader from Kilkenny Age 19-21


Youth Participation - SpunOut.ie Action Panels

Regional Panel structure: Before 2018, there was just one Action Panel group for the entire country. Last year we developed the Action Panel structure to make it more inclusive and accessible to young people across Ireland. The new structure saw the creation of four regional panels: • East/Midlands Regional Action Panel: Laois, Kildare, Wicklow, Monaghan, Dublin, Louth and Meath • South-East Regional Action Panel: Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford • South-West Regional Action Panel: Cork, Limerick, Clare and Kerry • West/North West Regional Action Panel: Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, Leitrim, Westmeath, Longford, Cavan, Donegal and Offaly The members of the regional panels are represented nationally by the National Panel, made up of 25 Action Panel members, elected by their fellow members at the first regional panel meeting each year.

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Youth Participation - SpunOut.ie Action Panels Membership

Training

Action Panel membership grew from 30 members in 2017 to 150 members across Ireland in 2018.

At every regional meeting, Action Panel members have training, personal development, and advocacy and activism opportunities through workshops and talks from speakers and organisations. In 2018, speakers and organisations included the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI), Nasc (the Migrant & Refugee Rights Centre), a former Irish UN Youth delegate and group coaching sessions from life coaches

• • • •

30% of members were on the East Midlands Panel 30% of members were on the South West Panel 25% of members were on the West/North West Panel 15% of members were on the South East Panel

Engagements In 2018 there were 15 face-to-face Action Panel meetings. Each Regional Panel met three times over the course of the year, with the National Panel meeting twice and all 90 Action Panel members coming together for our annual Town Hall. There were also regular video calls throughout the year.

The Action Panel itself is amazing, and I really like it. It’s brilliant to actually see your ideas being uploaded as articles - really rewarding and you feel like you’re actually making a difference. Action Panel Member

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Content Our Action Panels guide us on the information needs of young people across the country. Action Panel meetings give members the opportunity to discuss the issues that are important to them and feed into our content production process. This is a key part of our philosophy, “By Young People, For Young People.” A total of 70 article titles as a whole were recommended by the Action Panels to our content team in 2018, some examples below.

You’re heard and acknowledged and your experience is taken seriously. Action Panel Member


The mediators of the meetings have always made everyone feel valued and important. The meetings are always a safe, inclusive space.

I always come away from meetings feeling energised, inspired, and productive, knowing that I’m dedicating my time to the worthy cause of giving young people a voice.

Action Panel Member

Action Panel Member

East Midlands

South West

• Direct Provision • Volunteering and volunteering abroad • Sexual health • Care and aftercare • The Travelling community • Mental health supports • Period poverty • Social media influencers

• The importance of youth groups and services • Unplanned pregnancy • Health supplements • Improving body image • Toxic masculinity • Sustainable Development Goals

South East

• • • • • • •

• • • • • • • •

Lowering the voting age have Staying safe on a night out Consent class Career guidance Rights of Trans young people Eating disorders Use of pronouns Safe space for LGBTI+ people

West North West ADHD Cancer support Emergency accommodation Toxic relationships Sexual assault Politics College courses

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Youth Participation - SpunOut.ie Action Panels Events attended by Action Panel members in 2018

Having Action Panel members attend events with staff means young people can relate with each other on a peer to peer level about the work we do. Events attended by Action Panel members in 2018 included; Zeminar, the AIB Future Sparks festival, Cycle Against Suicide, the Student Leaders Congress and the Irish Youth Music Awards.

Collaboration with other organisations

As an organisation we have partnered with a number of national and European organisations who offer training opportunities to volunteers and Action Panel members. Some of these opportunities included attending and speaking at the Safe World Summit with Safe Ireland and journalism training with Leargas in Vienna.

The Safe World Summit In 2018, we worked closely with Safe Ireland to help ensure young people’s voices were represented at the Safe World Summit 2018. The Safe World Summit focuses on domestic violence and domestic homicide, exploring innovative solutions to address inequality, control and dominance, which are at the heart of violence. For the summit, SpunOut.ie: ⊲ Identified and upskilled nine young speakers to share their thoughts on domestic violence and gender inequality ⊲ Organised for 85 young people to attend and participate in the summit, adding their voices and their perspectives to the conversation. This was the first time young people had taken such prominent roles in the summit.

We’ve seen SpunOut.ie as one of the leading organisations in intersectionality which is what we want to practice in all that we do. We are really appreciative of how inclusive your contributions to the summit were. It was really important. Safe Ireland Summit Organisers.

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Volunteer Development

I really like SpunOut.ie’s approach and attitude to young people, and the organisation’s honesty, openness and progressiveness towards traditionally taboo subjects. SpunOut.ie Volunteer

SpunOut.ie’s motto is “By Young People, For Young People.” Our volunteer roles aim to provide a platform for young people across Ireland to have their voice heard on issues that are important to them, and to share their lived experiences with others.

We aim to empower our volunteers with the skills, knowledge and confidence to speak out about important issues, share their advice and opinions, and discuss their lived experiences. We are firm believers in the power of peer education and know the difference our volunteers can make to the lives of our readers.

I want to help young people have access to the information they need. SpunOut.ie Volunteer

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Volunteer Development...continued Developing volunteer roles

Volunteer introduction calls

In 2018, we focused on developing our volunteering roles to give our volunteers a variety of opportunities. The volunteer roles are very flexible and can be done from home, a cafe or in between classes, in the volunteer’s own time.

Last year we introduced volunteer introduction calls for all new volunteers to offer an overview of SpunOut.ie’s vision, mission and values, as well as a deeper insight into each volunteering role. In 2018, over 180 young people attended volunteer introduction calls.

Our content contributor role allows volunteers to share their lived experiences, advice and opinions on the site in the form of articles, videos or podcasts. Over 232 pieces of volunteer content were published in 2018. Our proofreader roles are vital for ensuring that the content created by the SpunOut.ie team is relevant to young people, easy to understand, accurate and non-judgemental. In 2018, over 85 proofreaders reviewed hundreds of pieces of content for publication on SpunOut.ie. Throughout the year we offer opportunities for our volunteers to attend events across Ireland and Europe and write an article or a series of articles, videos or podcasts for SpunOut.ie. In 2018, over 20 reporters attended eight events across Ireland and Europe, including Young Social Innovators, X-Hale, Zeminar and the European Youth Event in Strasbourg.

I like being able to volunteer with a website that helps out young people. I also like being able to volunteer at a time that suits me - say with proofreading articles, I can work it around my schedule. SpunOut.ie Volunteer

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Volunteer Engagement Day Our Volunteer Engagement Day was hosted in the SpunOut.ie office for all our volunteers. This event brought together some of the leading media professionals from the Irish Times, TheJournal.ie, The Irish Independent and RTÉ. They ran a series of workshops, talks and Q&A’s covering topics such as writing news pieces and feature articles, the power of storytelling with video, making videos with your phone and writing for the web.

Volunteer Awards Being not so confident about creating content SpunOut.ie has empowered me with workshops and support from their team to help me do the best I can. Four of my articles have been published on their website after the writing workshop and I’m looking forward to making podcasts from the SDG podcast workshop. Starting college in September, I feel like I’ve learned loads of skills that will stand by me.

At the Volunteer Engagement Day, we held the 2018 Volunteer Awards, recognising the: • • • • •

Best Advice article Best Opinion article Best Experiences article Most read volunteer piece Volunteer of the year

The 2018 Volunteer of the Year was Criodán Ó Murchú who has written a number of excellent pieces for the site and cycled the length of Ireland to raise money to support SpunOut.ie’s work.

Female, 19, Dublin

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Youth Worker Engagement Youth workers and youth work volunteers are the gatekeepers to young people across Ireland, and by working together we can ensure that all young people are empowered with the information they need to lead active, happy and healthy lives.

We attended events and conferences on a variety of issues, including:

SpunOut.ie provides training to youth workers and youth work volunteers. With all of our workshops, we aim to empower the youth workers with skills and knowledge to be able to deliver high quality, inclusive, non-judgemental training that is based on the most up-to-date research and best practice. Our workshops closely align with our values as we always aim to ensure they are inclusive, holistic, innovative and dynamic sessions.

Major outreach events we had a presence at in 2018 included:

Our reach In 2018, we reached: • Almost 600 youth workers and youth work volunteers at training events and workshops across the country • Over 900 people at youth events and conferences • Almost 1,000 people in four colleges, 10 secondary schools, and 10 youth centres and community services in Ireland The most popular training and workshop topics included mental health, social media, online safety and gender & sexuality.

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• • • • •

Smoking cessation Sexual health Consent Self harm prevention Online youth engagement

• • • •

Zeminar World No Tobacco Day Conference Safe World Summit Voices and Choices Sexual Health event • 2018 Mental Health Week Launch By attending these events and having the opportunity to deliver some keynote speeches, we could ensure that young people and youth workers are aware of SpunOut.ie and the information we provide.

The feedback from colleagues was universally positive. So many said that they wished you could have stayed longer as they really valued the opportunity to share and learn from you and one another. Event Organiser.


Workshop satisfaction

Workshop facilitation guides

Over 90% of respondents felt more educated on the topic than before the presentation.

To increase our reach and help train more youth workers and youth work volunteers, we focused on developing workshop facilitation guides in 2018. These guides aim to give trainers a practical guide to deliver training sessions on a variety of topics to young people.

100% of respondents felt the information in the workshop was presented in a way that was easy to understand.

In 2018, we completed training facilitation guides for sessions on: This workshop was excellently delivered. My knowledge and understanding of the topics included were fully explained. I believe that SpunOut.ie will be a resource I will use more often in my career. Workshop Participant

• • • • •

Positive mental health Social media and mental health Engaging young people online Online safety Sexual health

The positive mental health facilitation guide was used by youth workers in the field in 2018. In 2019, the remaining facilitation guides were distributed to youth workers across the country.

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Other Activities and Projects in 2018 CAMHS project launch

SKILLS

Throughout 2017 and the beginning of 2018, the SpunOut.ie team developed multimedia information resources to better inform children, parents and other stakeholders about the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). The project, informed by children and young people, saw the SpunOut.ie team visit seven CAMHS centres and interview over 30 CAMHS clinicians operating all over Ireland, as well as the production of a flagship animation describing the service. The resources were launched in April 2018 in the Lighthouse Cinema to very positive feedback.

SUMMARY SpunOut.ie continued our partnership with NYCI and Accenture to develop the Skills Summary tool throughout 2018. Working in conjunction with our strategic partners, SpunOut.ie contributed a substantial redevelopment of Skills Summary on a new CMS. SpunOut.ie also contributed to improvements to the site's content, technical functionality, and user experience, as well as aiding in preparations for the tool's launch in Q1 2019.

Youth Information Centre (YIC) Chat System Development

From January to June 2018, SpunOut.ie partnered with The Wheel and USI to increase young people in Ireland’s engagement with the European Parliament and the wider EU structures. As part of this, SpunOut.ie ran a survey on the issue of the future of Europe which gathered over 1,000 respondents. We also hosted a Facebook live event with MEP Lynn Boylan discussing the Future of Europe and other European issues with questions posed by young people. The SpunOut.ie team updated all of our EU-related content housed in our EU Hub, and also produced two new interactive quizzes, multiple factsheets and news pieces around the topic of Brexit and other topical European issues.

During 2018 SpunOut.ie conducted a number of consultations with Youth Information Centres to establish the technical requirements for a new chat system in partnership with Youth Work Ireland, Crosscare and YMCA. The new system will allow SpunOut.ie readers to chat in real-time with a Youth Information Worker from one of Ireland’s 22 youth information centres. A chat system provider was selected based on those requirements, and the system was set up. The system is currently undergoing testing on the SpunOut.ie website in conjunction with Youth Information Centre staff and will be ready for launch in 2019.

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Skills Summary

European Parliament Information Project


Together For Yes Membership May 2018 was a moment of great social change in Ireland with the successful passage of the referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment. SpunOut.ie was proud to have partnered with a range of organisations under the Together for Yes banner, and took the leading role in organising the Youth For Yes campaign launch event. SpunOut.ie took the decision to affiliate to Together For Yes through a vote of our Youth Action Panel, and pursued a policy of supporting a Yes vote through use of unrestricted funds exclusively. While adopting a firm commitment to promoting one outcome, we also worked to maintain our status as a non-judgemental provider of factual information, hosting opinion pieces written by young people on all sides of the debate and ensuring all of our factsheets relating to the topic were strictly neutral on the outcome.

Charity Impact Award

Child Talks

SpunOut.ie was the proud winner of a Charity Impact Award in 2018, winning in the medium-sized charities category. This was the organisation’s first major awards win since 2016, and was a testament to the highly successful restructuring and refocusing of SpunOut.ie in line with the goals of our 2018-2020 strategic plan.

From July to November we partnered with the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman for the first annual Universal Children’s Day Child Talks event. The event took place in Dublin City Hall and featured a number of young people telling their personal stories around mental health, sexuality, arts and culture, technology and education. We worked closely with the Ombudsman’s team and the young people involved to prepare them for the day, and also assisted in digital communications surrounding the event. Child Talks was streamed live on RTE News Now and is planned to run again in 2019.

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Other Activities and Projects in 2018 ‘Survival Guide to Life’ Fourth Edition Originally published in 2014, the SpunOut.ie Survival Guide to Life is a free resource provided to young people, youth workers and educational institutions. Featuring over 150 pages of reliable factual advice and information on topics including mental health, drugs & alcohol, digital citizenship and sexual health, the Survival Guide has long been our most popular printed resource. In 2018, funding was secured from the HSE to enable the printing of a fourth edition, which necessitated a comprehensive review of the text to ensure the book remains as relevant heading into 2019 as it was when it was first published. With distribution due to take place in Q1 2019, we have already received orders for more than 5,000 copies of the new edition.

External Engagements In 2018 our CEO delivered addresses at events including the NYCI Annual Assembly, the Youth Information Symposium, the Institute of Guidance Counsellors AGM, the FORSA Trade Union Conference, the Irish Aftercare Network Conference and more. Both our CEO and Deputy Director spoke before the Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Mental Health, setting out SpunOut.ie’s recommendations in this important area of public policy.

Fundraising Lunch In 2018, SpunOut.ie hosted its first annual Fundraising Lunch in the Shelbourne Hotel to significant success. The lunch was sponsored by Twitter and Independent News & Media plc and raised over €16,000 to enable the organisation support more young people around Ireland.

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New Strategy & Impact Report launch In September 2018 we launched our new format Annual Impact Report for 2017 to communicate the impact that SpunOut.ie had on the young people who availed of our services in 2017. At the same event we also launched our Strategic Plan for 2018-2020 which outlines clearly and concisely our plans, goals and KPIs for the next three years. The launch took place in Twitter’s Dublin headquarters and was extremely well-attended by volunteers, representatives of strategic partners, and young people.

Problem Gambling Campaign The team launched a major problem gambling awareness campaign in March of 2018. Our main focus was to dramatically increase the level of content relating to young people and gambling on our website. The content focuses on helping people identify problem gambling behaviour, in themselves and/or others, and highlighting the steps that can be taken by young people who find themselves living with a gambling problem. We also developed content with practical advice for young people who gamble either infrequently or frequently regarding how they can avoid moving towards problematic behaviour. The project informs young people about what constitutes problem gambling, how to identify if they or people they know have a problem with gambling and what they can do about it.

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Who we are SpunOut.ie could not function without the hard work put in by the dedicated people at every level of our organisation. SpunOut.ie works as a unique three-part structure, with our staff team carrying out the day-to-day functions of a youth information service, our Board of Directors overseeing our strategic and financial development, and our Youth Action Panel setting the overall direction of SpunOut.ie in line with our founding values. In addition, the National Action Panel elects two of its members to sit on the Board of Directors, ensuring we stay true to our motto of being “by young people, for young people,'' always. Each of these three parts has been absolutely essential to our success in 2018, and we owe every ActionOrganisation Panel member, Director and staff member Structure 2019a huge and enduring thanks. Content Team

Board Sub-Committees

Hannah Byrne

Senior Online Content Producer

Governance & Risk Fundraising Finance & Audit

Kevin O’Brien

Digital Communications Manager

Rebekah Connolly

Senior Online Content Producer

Jack Deacon Deputy Director

Board of Directors

Deividas Morkūnas Multimedia Producer

Engagement Team

Ian Power

Kiki Martire

CEO

Outreach & Training Officer

Jack Eustace

Governance & Policy Officer

Heather Barry

Skills Development Officer

Timmy Hammersley

Engagement & Participation Officer

Regional Action Panels

National Action Panel

Elected from Regional Action Panels

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East/Midlands South East South West West/North West


Our Board of Directors

John McNamara (Chairperson)

Clodagh O’Reilly (Secretary)

Niamh O’Brien (Treasurer)

Nigel Heneghan

Ronan Costello

Fíona Ní Chinnéide

Michael White

Tammy Donaghy

Amanda Fitzgerald

Emma Finn

Maria O’Loughlin

Laura Harmon

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Who we are Our Staff Team

Ian Power

Jack Deacon

Jack Eustace

Hannah Byrne

Rebekah Connolly

Kevin O’Brien

Heather Barry

Kiki Martire

CEO

SENIOR ONLINE CONTENT PRODUCER

Timmy Hammersley

ENGAGEMENT AND PARTICIPATION OFFICER

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DEPUTY DIRECTOR

DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

Deividas Morkünas

MULTIMEDIA PRODUCER

GOVERNANCE & POLICY OFFICER

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

SENIOR ONLINE CONTENT PRODUCER

HEAD OF TRAINING & QUALITY


SpunOut.ie Action Panel Members 2018 Aine Crowe Áine O'Connell Alex Deane Amanda Roche Anuj Agarwal Ari (Ciara) Sheils Bryan Nestor Caitlin Grant Cathal Finney Cathal Sherlock Catherine Mohan Chloe Griffin Ciara Mc Cormack Ciara Lawlor Ciara-Mae Somers Ciaran Setshego Semahedi Cliodhna Gannon Cole Scahill Conor Bustos Cormac Griffin Courtney Jordan Daniel McSweeney Daniel O'Neill Dean Murray Deirdre McKeon Donncha Adams Dylan Murphy Elena Giardini Ella Anderson Ellen Metzger Emer Kelly Eimear McPhillips Eoin Corbett Ewan Hutchinson

Fay Antar Fergal Smiddy Gabrielle Fullam Grace Duffy Grazvydas Artiomovas Hannah Duffy Jack Allen Jamie Clarke Jessie Barrett Jessie Newsome Jimmy Mcgovern Joyce Reilly Kate Buckley Kate Moriarty Kate Quinlan Kate Rasmussen Katie Hallinan Katie Halpin-Hill Kgotso Nondo Lariane Costa Ramos Laura Bray Laura Egan Lauren Marie Painter Leah Walker Lorna Mannion Louise Harvey Luke Bermingham Katie Cooper Mair Kelly Matthew Talbot Mckenzie Dow Michael White Nicole Chigumira Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich Naomi O Mara

Natasha Sutton Niall Brady Nicole Frazer Orla O’Leary Rebecca Adeyemo Rebekah Hogan Rhys Scully Robyn Fitzpatrick Roisin Murphy Ruth Nolan Ruth O'Dea Ruth Skehan Sarah Brogan Sarah Canavan Sarah Craig Sarah-Jane Codd Shane Burke Shannon Carey Shannon Dargan Shana Mansfield Shauna Gilmartin Shauna Walsh Shazny McNally Steven Murphy Tammy Donaghy Tara Dolan Teresa Clifford Vanessa Foster Yvonne Rice Zöe-Louise Cummins

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SpunOut.ie Action Panel Town Hall 2018



By young people, for young people.

i f @SpunOut.ie l @SpunOut SpunOut.ie Sean MacBride House 48 Fleet Street Dublin 2 D02 T883

01 675 3554 E hello@spunout.ie P

Registered Charity Number: 20057923


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