Toilet roll firm aids cash-strapped school

A toilet tissue company sent 720 loo rolls to a cash-strapped primary school after pupils were asked to bring in their own to save money.

Kittensoft couriered the supplies to St John’s Girls’ National School in Carrigaline, Co Cork, free of charge yesterday.

Principal Catherine O’Neill said they needed to find ways to cut spending after several education grants were slashed by the Government.

But she stressed that children who did not bring in supplies would not be left in the lurch.

“It isn’t that, if a child didn’t bring in a toilet roll, they would have no access to a toilet roll,” Ms O’Neill said.

“The toilet roll was to be kept in a box in the classroom and the bathrooms which would be replenished when the ones that were there were used.”

The school, which has some 540 pupils, said it has been hit by cutbacks such as the removal of school books and library book grants and has been looking at ways to claw back money.

Ms O’Neill sent out a letter to parents stating that children will, at times, be asked to bring a toilet roll into class.

Paul O’Connor, brand manager at Kittensoft, sent 720 rolls to the school as a gift yesterday after hearing the story.

“It should keep the school ticking over until after Christmas anyway,” he said.

Ms O’Neill claimed there had been a good response from families and she believed St John’s was not the only school forced to take such action.

The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation said schools across the country were facing similar funding problems.

The union said the Department of Education announced extra funding to help schools but claimed the extra cash did not compensate for the loss in grants.