Two of North Belfast’s beloved institutions joined forces recently, when Park Lodge Primary School, Our Lady of Lourdes, organised a week-long sustainability initiative to raise vital funds for Northern Ireland Hospice.

The eco-friendly Recycle Clothes Week initiative saw the school’s pupils, parents and staff being urged to support the local palliative care charity by donating pre-loved stock such as unwanted clothing, footwear, and fashion accessories.

Teachers Mr Conor McQuaid and Miss Victoria Jennings said: “We are proud to be an Eco-School and a Green Flag Award Holder, so we were delighted to promote this initiative in line with our ethos of sustainability, environmentalism, and charity.

“As an added incentive, we organised it as a competition between the classes to maximise donations – with the winners earning the prize of enjoying a trip to Pizza Express! The excitement and sense of competitiveness was fabulous, especially as it was all for a great cause.

“We are delighted to say that a phenomenal total weight of 6,119.46kg of donations was collected and prevented from going to landfill, while also supporting the fabulous work of our near neighbours at the Hospice. It’s a brilliant win-win all round – for the environment, for Hospice and for the pizza-pie loving class who won the competition!”

Alan Kennedy, NI Hospice’s Head of Retail, said: “We have been truly blown away by the heartwarming kindness and community spirit of everyone at the school, as well as the parents who generously donated the items.

“The number of bags and the total weight of the clothing that has been donated is simply staggering. When sorted, we will be sending the items collected to stock our shops locally including our new shop in Carrickfergus which is set to open in a few weeks, so these unwanted fashions will soon be sustainably recycled and turned into cash to support our vital palliative care work.

“Together this fantastic support will make a huge difference to the local community, the environment and local families. Thank you to Park Lodge School for being such amazing Hospice Heroes!”

Charlene McKeown, Environmental Education Manager at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said: “Eco-Schools are delighted to see Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School leading the way on ethically dealing with textile waste by taking part in a clothing drive at their school. It is wonderful that they are working in this inspirational partnership with the Hospice on this fantastic initiative, and we would encourage more of our Eco-Schools to get involved”.

If you would like to get involved with NI Hospice by organising a donation drive at school or work, contact us on 028 9024 1549 or visit www.nihospice.org/shops

   

   

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