Schools do their bit to combat coronavirus
LOCAL SCHOOLS are helping to quell the spread of the coronavirus by donating PPE (personal protective equipment) to frontline staff in Gorey.
Creagh College and Gorey Community School have donated goggles, visors and vinyl gloves to both St Aidan’s Daycare Centre and Gorey Community Hospital (GCH), resources which would otherwise have been left unused in the school’s science labs and woodwork halls.
Almha Masterson is a teacher at Creagh College and she explained where the idea came from.
‘I had seen it on a woodwork forum from another school, and I thought if other schools are doing it why can’t we? So I got in touch with the Principal for his thoughts on it.’
Meanwhile, Almha’s colleague, Deputy Principal Declan O’Toole, had already been contacted by GCH in the hope of acquiring some equipment. And so the two teachers set about finding all the PPE they could find in the school building.
This search led to the discovery of approximately 150 pairs of goggles, 20 visors, 20 face masks and eight boxes of vinyl gloves. What’s more, a lot of the items had never been used and were brand new.
‘The health service need these items more than us at the moment so we are doing what we can to help,’ said Declan. ‘All PPE equipment from our Science laboratories and
Technology practical rooms was donated and we will order replacement PPE equipment which hopefully will arrive before our students return.
‘We are all so proud and appreciative of the great work that our frontline services are doing to help Ireland get through this COVID-19 emergency.’
Also doing their bit are staff at Gorey Community School. Principal Michael Finn was moved to act when he realised that carers at St Aidan’s Daycare Centre had a deficit of protective equipment.
‘We really wanted to help out in the community in some way and so we were delighted to be able to support St Aidan’s in whatever way we could. And of course there’s great links between ourselves and the daycare centre.’
‘We donated goggles from our science labs, a number of boxes of them. St Aidan’s were delighted to receive them. I think it’s very important we did something as a school, everyone has to help in whatever way they can at the moment.’