Helping out the young homeless

Caring pupils donate clothes and bedding

Senior pupils from a Paisley secondary school have handed over a car-load of sleeping bags, warm clothes and toiletries to help young people sleeping rough.

The teenagers from St Andrew’s Academy are all part of the school’s enhanced achieve group,which helps pupils at risk of leaving school with no qualifications.

They were so touched by seeing so many people sleeping rough on the streets of Glasgow that they decided to support the Simon Community homeless charity as part of their project. Project leader Claire Cozens guided the youngsters who decided to raise money from an enterprise project and appeal to the rest of the school for donations.

She said: “The pupils got in touch with the Simon Community and asked what they needed. They said sleeping bags, boots, jumpers, jackets and toiletries.

“We appealed to the school for donations and people were very generous. The pupils raised a couple of hundred pounds from their enterprise project.

“Personal hygiene was raised as an issue so the pupils went to the shops, made a shopping list and thought about what they would want if they were in that situation. There was so much stuff we didn’t think it was going to fit in the car.”

The group of 5th and 6th year pupils have earned a National 5 Achieve qualification but are also proud of the difference they’ve made to homeless people.

Claire added: “We are delighted with the contribution we have made and would like to thank the whole school for their support.

“The young pupils have worked very hard to raise money, awareness and donations and learned a lot from meeting with people from the Simon Community.

“I’m a teacher, but my role was to advise the pupils, they did most of this off their own back.

“I am very proud of the pupils for what they have achieved and they should be proud of themselves.”

Willie Brown, from the Simon Community, said: “Myself and Jamie thoroughly enjoyed visiting St Andrews Academy yesterday afternoon. The donations the school raised will go a long way to help the people we are supporting.

“The pupils were brilliant and demonstrated a great understanding of homelessness and the needs of people who find themselves homeless.

“It was a fantastic afternoon working with the pupils and staff of St Andrew’s Academy and we hope our partnership will continue in the future.

“We can’t thank the staff and pupils enough for all their time and effort”