Pictures: Carrigaline school’s bake sale raises €500 for Irish Red Cross

STUDENTS from a Cork secondary school recently presented a cheque to a representative from the Irish Red Cross after they held a bake sale in their school.

Transition Year students from Edmund Rice College in Carrigaline picked the Irish Red Cross as beneficiaries from their bake sale due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Christine O’Neill, who teaches in the Carrigaline co-educational secondary school which accepted their first students back in 2016, said they raised over €500 in total. “A cheque was recently presented to a representative from Irish Red Cross in the school. Two Transition Year business classes organised a bake sale in the school and the funds raised went to the Irish Red Cross. They raised €510 in total which was a nice sum of money. The money will make a nice contribution to Irish Red Cross, and it will help them in their campaign,” she said.

The secondary school teacher said the TY students heard the appeals for humanitarian aid on media outlets and they decided the Irish Red Cross would be the beneficiaries. “They picked the Irish Red Cross because they wanted to help with the crisis in Ukraine. They heard the appeals on various media outlets, and they came up with the idea of organising a fundraiser for the Irish Red Cross because they are linked with the appeals in Ukraine.” 

Ms O’Neill praised the business students for their ‘strong’ social conscience. “This was done by the 40 students who are doing business in TY. Ms Quill is the other teacher. We are the two business teachers. All the cakes were baked by the TY students in the school. The cakes were beautiful. We had brownies, doughnuts, and cupcakes. They are very talented.

“They were supported hugely on the day by other students and the staff members in the school. We do a lot of volunteering in the school. It has been a very successful year for the whole Transition Year. It shows that they have a very strong social conscience, and we are very proud of them,” she added.

From a sporting context Edmund Rice College also secured their first piece of silverware this season when they captured the U16.5 B county final. Ms O’Neill paid tribute to the very ‘talented’ team.

“This was the first bit of camogie silverware the school has ever won. The school was only established six years ago. We had our first Leaving Cert class last year. The U16.5 camogie team beat Carrigaline Community School in the final in the Carrigaline GAA grounds after a local derby. This was a great achievement. They are a very talented team. Cara Bowen from Ballygarvan is the captain of the team.” “They are leading the way in the school,” said the proud camogie coach. “There are 28 players on the panel. They are from local clubs such as Tracton, Ballygarvan and Carrigaline. They range from first to fourth year students. It is important to promote academic, sports and extracurricular activities in the school.

“Jason Barrett from Carrigtwohill and I are with this team. They should be upgraded to the A grade for next year. They are leading the way in the school. We are very proud of them,” she added.