Scoil Ruain raise over €2,000 for Focus Ireland’s homelessness initiative

Ms. Siobhan Landers, deputy principal, Mark McCormack, Lauren Gahan, Ms. Cathryn O’Leary, Focus Ireland, Molly Maher, Karim Mohand, Ms. Mary Cummins and principal James Williams

placeholder image — Ms. Siobhan Landers, deputy principal, Mark McCormack, Lauren Gahan, Ms. Cathryn O’Leary, Focus Ireland, Molly Maher, Karim Mohand, Ms. Mary Cummins and principal James Williams

Transition year students from Scoil Ruáin, Killenaule raised a total of €2,045, the highest amount raised by an Irish school, for Focus Ireland’s Class Act Homelessness initiative.

On March 1, the schools TY's participated in a sleep out in aid of Focus Ireland, a charity dedicated to supporting the homeless in Ireland.

They camped out between the hours of 8pm and 8am underneath the outer roof of the Main Guard in Clonmel. The students with their teacher, Ms. Mary Cummins, organised the sleep out as part of a well being awareness initiative and Class Acts fundraiser in aid of the homeless charity Focus Ireland.

On Wednesday, May 8 they presented their substantial cheque of €2,045 to Cathryn O’Leary of Focus Ireland.

Ms. O’Leary was thrilled with the great amount raised and praised the hard work of the students in achieving the largest sum raised across the country within the Class Acts Initiative.

According to the students themselves they said: “We learned a lot by sleeping out on the street from 8pm to 8am. We are now much more aware of the difficulties encountered by the homeless. We hope our donation will help someone in this terrible situation”.

The number of homeless families has increased by 13 percent in the past year. According to Focus Ireland, one in three people now in emergency accommodation is under 18 years.