From a single foster care training session to gifting over 130,000 bags, Dave’s journey from youth worker to award-winning social entrepreneur is one of compassion, creativity and resilience. The Lurgan native founded Madlug – short for Make a Difference Luggage – in 2015, after learning that many children in care were being moved between placements with their belongings in black bin bags.
“That image stuck with me,” he recalls. “A child with no bag of their own, just a plastic bin liner. No dignity. No value. I remember thinking: someone needs to do something about that. And then came the realisation maybe that someone was me.”
With no background in retail or fashion, and just £500 in his pocket, Dave launched Madlug with a simple but powerful message: children in care matter. For every bag sold, the company donates a pack-away travel bag to a child in care – offering them dignity and a sense of worth.
In the past 10 years, Madlug has grown from a single backpack design into a full product range, a certified B Corp, and a movement supported by a growing community across the UK and Ireland. The social enterprise has now helped over 130,000 children in care receive bags of their own – tangible reminders that they are valued and seen.
Accepting his honorary degree at the Ulster University graduation ceremony, Dave Linton said:
“I’m deeply humbled to receive this recognition from Ulster University. I never set out to run a bag company, but I knew I had to do something. This honour is for every child who’s been told – through action or silence – that they don’t matter. My hope is that today’s graduates leave here inspired to use their skills and passion to make a difference in the world around them. Every one of us has the power to create change.”
As Madlug marks its 10th anniversary, Dave is looking to the future with purpose, determined to continue growing a movement that reminds children in care – and the wider world – of three powerful words: Value. Worth. Dignity.
