The Irish Refugee Council and The Irish Red Cross offer fantastic services for refugees that arrive in Ireland. The Irish Red Cross offer immediate assistance for people arriving here while the Irish Refugee Council offers more long term supports and advocates for them through a range of supports from legal assistance, housing and education.
In my school we have a very active Student Council. They organise different fundraising days in school to support causes. This year they had a non-uniform day to support the Irish Red Cross and their appeal for funds after the devastating earthquake in Turkey. This raised great awareness in our school community about the plight of these people and where they would go to seek shelter.
We also participate in Team Hope’s Christmas Shoe Box appeal that delivers shoe boxes with toys and goods to children in Romania, Ukraine, Kosovo, Albania, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, eSwatini. Mali, Kenya and Rwanda. The children are very enthusiastic about bringing them in and personalising them for children around the world.
The other big fundraiser we have in the year is for St. Vincent de Paul. While this is not specifically a support for refugees in Ireland, it is a wonderful support to refugees in this country.
The student council could embrace a multicultural day in school next year celebrating all the different ethnicities in the school.