As many of you may know, the LÉ Samuel Beckett of the Irish Naval Service was deployed in the southern Mediterranean recently. They rescued in excess of 3000 people during their three month humanitarian mission in the Mediterranean. Many of those rescued were children. These children were rescued from barges and inflatable boats at risk of sinking or overturning in the sea. They, along with their families, were fleeing Africa in the hope of a better life but in doing so they had to leave behind all personal belongings, as the boats on which they were travelling were extremely over-crowded. The children were given a soft toy or teddy on the Naval Ship and it has been reported that it went some way to comfort these children as they experienced such a traumatic event. Many of these toys were donated to the Irish Naval Service by the crew’s family members.
We in Scoil Barra, have joined together with a community group in Cobh to appeal for teddies (soft toys). These will be donated to the Naval Service for the next deployment in the Mediterranean. It is a small but significant gesture by our pupils helping children who are less fortunate than ourselves and who are experiencing a life-changing, traumatic event.
All of the bears that the students of Scoil Barra have been collecting since February started their voyage today. Rose, a representative from the Community Group in Cobh, came to collect them and thanked the pupils of Scoil Barra for their generosity.
The staff and PFA of Scoil Barra raised money for the appeal and, along with the support of our local Tesco store, also donated a large amount of crayons and colouring books to the appeal.
You can follow the progress of our bears when they leave on the next Naval Service mission to the Mediterranean in May.
Well done to all!
