Glasgow school St Roch's Primary recycling shop supports community

To help families struggling with the cost of living, St Roch’s Primary and Deaf School had the ingenious idea of setting up a recycling shop, where staff and members of the community donate pre-loved items for others to use. 

The project won Best School and overall winners at the Glasgow Times Streets Ahead Awards, run in association with Glasgow City Council, City Charitable Trust, People Make Glasgow Greener and City Building.

As well as helping families access books, toys and clothes for free, the shop has encouraged the whole Royston community to recycle - and restored a sense of dignity and hope to a part of Glasgow hit hard by the pandemic.

This is a school which understands the challenges facing many of its families and which has the vision and drive to do everything it can to help them.

“It’s been amazing - everyone knows about it, I often get stopped on the street by people asking what we’ve got that day,” smiles Debbie Rose, whose children Hannah, 8, and Liam, 7, are pupils at the school.

“We helped 33 parents one day - it’s always busy. It’s good to be able to help people.”

Binta Bojand moved to Royston recently - her son Ousman, 10, is at St Roch’s - and being part of the shop has been a huge boost for her, she says.

“We were in the asylum seeker system, moved around a lot, but Royston is home,” she smiles. “I wanted to be part of this to help, and I have made good friends.”

Fellow volunteers Becky Taylor and Yvonne Masterson help run the store, which also provides nappies and household items like soap powder.

Every shelf is bursting with donations, from books and toys to school uniform and shoes.

“This is my first time here and I think it’s really good,” says P5 pupil Joy Aolbi, 10.

“It helps lots of children.”

Her classmate Connor Masterson agrees: “Some children who might not have very much can come here and get what they need for free.”

Hannah Rose, 9, adds: “I have given some of my toys that I don’t play with any more into the shop, and I have brought new toys home. It’s nice to think the toys are not being thrown out.”

Emmanuel Akintula, 9, says: “I’m proud of our school for doing this - other schools should copy us, because it is a very good idea.”

Acting depute Jennifer Smith says the shop has been a huge success in breaking down barriers and building relationships in a school where 30 languages are spoken.

“The health and wellbeing of our families is at the heart of everything we do and we’re so delighted the hard work of the parents who run the shop has been recognised by Streets Ahead,” she adds.

“I’m so proud of them all, and grateful for the support of our Family Learning Office. It’s also lovely for our head teacher Mary McNulty, retiring after 43 years’ service, 15 of which have been here, because she has done so much for the Royston community.”

Mary said: “Winning this award means so much to the school and to the parents who have worked so hard for many years on this project. We are overjoyed.”

Schools have been huge supporters of our Streets Ahead campaign since we launched 10 years ago, and this year was no exception.

READ MORE: Meet the Glasgow kids who have turned into superheroes to clean up city streets

Despite the challenges faced by the city’s hardworking teachers, dedicated pupils and fantastic parents, they all stepped up and continued to support their communities in a variety of clever and heartwarming ways.

There were three excellent runners-up in the Best School category.

RUNNERS-UP

ST JOSEPH'S PRIMARY

From little superheroes educating their classmates, parents and the wider neighbourhood about litter, to monitoring pollution and starting up cycle-to-school initiatives, St Joseph’s Primary in Woodside has put sustainability at the heart of everything it does.

The school’s work with a variety of organisations has helped to build a stronger community and it does not stop here – now, they have big plans to create a wild garden and environmental learning space in school grounds which will be a huge boost for the whole community.

WESTERCRAIGS NURSERY

Westercraigs Nursery children loved their forest school sessions in Alexandra Park so much they decided they wanted to create their own.

With support from staff and Glasgow City Council, the nursery is transforming disused blaze pitches in Dennistoun into a green space for growing and play.

The whole community will benefit from a project which has caught the imagination of young and old, and will bring health and wellbeing benefits to residents for years to come.

GARROWHILL PRIMARY

Garrowhill Primary School pupils are concerned about environmental impact on the world’s bee population – so they have decided to do something about it on their own doorstep.

The kind-hearted and creative children learned all about beekeeping and signed up to keep a colony for a year.

They recently decorated the hive too, and hope to inspire other schools to follow suit.