The school – which is currently operating in a £2.7m deficit – has been accused of using gifts intended for some of their most disadvantaged pupils as promotional ‘prizes’
A West Belfast school is facing accusations it misappropriated donations of toys and electronics intended for 80 of the school’s most disadvantaged pupils – and used them for marketing purposes.
De La Salle College is understood to have received toys and other items through the Cash for Kids Mission Christmas Appeal in the run up to Christmas 2025.
The charity confirmed to Belfast Live that the school applied for support for 80 children, who were at risk of waking up with nothing on Christmas morning.
Cash for Kids said organisations applying to the appeal are asked to identify the children who will receive support, including details such as age and any additional needs, with items intended for those specific recipients. However, concerns have since been raised about how the donations were used.
Belfast Live spoke to multiple sources at the school who alleged not all of the items were distributed to the children identified in the application. It was further claimed that some of the goods were instead used as prizes at the school’s ‘Open Night’ in January and distributed more broadly in classrooms.
As part of our investigation, Belfast Live was shown footage that appears to show a large quantity of toys and high-end electronic items stored within the school. Separate footage, posted by the college on social media, shows similar items being distributed to local primary school children following the Open Night. It is not known whether the items shown in either video include those received as part of the Cash for Kids appeal.
When Belfast Live contacted Cash for Kids, the charity confirmed this was the first time they had been made aware of the allegations and are now in contact with the school.
Cash for Kids asks recipient groups to distribute items to children identified in their application and issues a monitoring form in January seeking feedback on how donations were used.
The terms and conditions set out for receipt of the grants explicitly state that: “donated goods must not be sold, cannot be used for fundraising purposes and are strictly non-transferable. Any unused donations must be returned to Cash for Kids for redistribution to support local underprivileged children.”
Organisations that do not meet the terms of a grant application may be refused future support, among other potential steps, depending on the circumstances.
These allegations come on the backdrop of financial pressures at the school. Education Authority records show that the school, which had been operating with a healthy surplus until 2019, is now operating in a budget deficit of £2.7m following a sharp decline in pupil numbers.
In 2016, De La Salle College had an enrolment of 1,117 pupils. By 2024/25, enrolment figures had fallen by more than 30% to just 774 pupils, with more than 50% in receipt of free school meals.
There is no suggestion that the school’s financial position is directly linked to the concerns raised about the use of the donated items.
Belfast Live contacted De La Salle College and presented them with the findings of this investigation. We posed a series of questions to the school, including whether all items were distributed to intended recipients and whether any were used as prizes at the school’s Open Night.
The school was also asked to clarify whether items had been distributed more broadly within the school and to outline its policy on handling charitable donations.
Despite multiple attempts to contact the school via phone and email, no response was received by the time of publication.
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