'Some children in Tipperary don't go to school because their families cannot afford toothpaste'

A charity that is making a major difference to the lives of people in the community is appealing for more donations and volunteers.

Tackling a lesser known poverty, one that can even be described as hidden, is the priority of the Tipperary Hygiene Hub, which collects items used for personal and domestic hygiene and distributes them throughout the local community.

Since launching in November 2021, the Tipperary hub has donated 7,700 kgs of hygiene products, which equates to support for approximately 3,850 individuals, or approximately 2,566 families.

“People don’t even realise that this need exists in the community,” says Tipperary Hygiene Hub co-ordinator Phil Kehoe.

“There isn’t an awareness about hygiene poverty and people are shocked at the extent of the situation”.

With some families having no option but to prioritise heat and food in their weekly budgets, hygiene products often come way down the list of priorities.

Another hub member, Gillian Bates says “Some kids don’t go to school because they cannot brush their teeth, because the family can’t afford toothpaste. It’s as bad as that”.

Among the items distributed by the hub, which is a fully confidential service, are nappies, sterilising fluid and domestic cleaning products, which enable families to bring their homes up to an acceptable living standard for themselves and their children.

Of 240 people surveyed in national research conducted by Trinity College and funded by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, 65 percent said that they had to prioritise food and heat ahead of hygiene products.

A high level of respondents reported a negative impact on physical health due to the unaffordability of hygiene items. The most frequently reported impact was trouble sleeping (63.5 percent), followed by lack of exercise (45.9 percent) and poor oral health (41.4 percent).

The research also revealed that 69 percent of those surveyed reported feeling embarrassed, ashamed or depressed, while increased stress was reported by 61.2 percent of individuals as a result of not being able to afford basic hygiene items.

“The donations we receive locally from the community in our drop-off points allow us to donate them back to the community each week,” says Phil Kehoe, who runs the Tipperary Hub with fellow volunteers Gillian Bates, Loreto Killen, Louie Murphy and Marjorie Walsh.

“Everything we collect locally is distributed locally. We need more donations and we’re totally dependent on the community”.

Donations may be made at the following drop-off points in Clonmel - Rivesci, Irishtown; O’Gorman’s Life Pharmacy; Boots; the Sue Ryder Shop and the library.

There are also drop-off points at Centra, Clerihan; Niamh’s Massage and Beauty, Cahir; O’Brien’s Pharmacy, Cahir; SuperValu, Cahir; and Dalton’s Pharmacy, Fethard. The group is always on the lookout for more drop-off points.

The hub also works with a number of community partners to distribute products.

They are The Clonmel Soup Kitchen; Community Families and Mothers, Clonmel; Vincent de Paul; Barnardos; The Food Cloud; Clonmel Resource Centre; Ss Peter and Paul’s National School; Tusla Families in Crisis; and Alone.

“Working with the Hygiene Hub means our young kids have big white smiles and clean uniforms everyday,” says one of the community partner members in Tusla.

Companies, businesses and workplaces also provide great support, either through funding or donating products.

“We recently started a pilot project in a local school, where the School Liaison Officer reported a huge increase in attendance,” says Phil Kehoe.

“We hope to extend these pilot projects to more schools with more funding and products to break the cycle of hygiene poverty”.

The local Indian community, Malayalees In South Tipperary (MIST) had a major drive earlier this year and donated 96 kgs of hygiene products to the hub.

A yoga class, whose members come from all over south Tipperary, donated 170 kgs of products at Christmas.

Gillian Bates says “if you’re part of a social club, a fitness class, a gym or just among your group of friends, we encourage you to do a drive.

“Encourage everyone to bring something along and suddenly you’ll find that you’ve filled a box.

“Donations are going up year on year because the need is increasing,” she says.

A coffee morning to raise funds and collect product donations will be held at Place 4U at 25, Gladstone Street, Clonmel on Thursday June 13 from 10am-12.30pm. People can come along, meet the team, learn about what they do and enjoy a coffee and cake.

The charity's website is https://www.hygienehub.ie/ and the local team's Instagram is @hygienehubtipperary. It can be contacted by email on tipperary@hygienehub.ie

The online donation link is https://www.idonate.ie/swift/HHDonate.