Luton charity repurposes railway uniforms to support struggling families
The Level Trust has received hundreds of items from Govia Thameslink Railway to help families who are struggling
A charity in Luton is repurposing old railway uniform to help children who need school clothes.
The Level Trust has received hundreds of items from Govia Thameslink Railway, including trousers, shirts and jackets, which are being given away for free through its school uniform exchange.
The uniform exchange can help ease the pressure on parents already struggling to make ends meet.
Jennie White, CEO of the Level Trust, said: “We regularly have parents that are coming in who are in crisis. They come in, they break down, they're crying, they're at the end of their tether because despite working, they cannot make ends meet.”
“We can just alleviate a little bit of this pressure for you, and you don't then have to worry about the uniform,” she added.
Ms White said the cost of school uniform can mean difficult choices between buying clothes and paying for other essentials.
“We know that families are telling us that when they buy uniforms, sometimes they're having to put those other essential bills on hold,” she said.
The donated GTR clothing arrives brand new and can be put straight into the uniform exchange. It is sorted and added to Level Trust’s online ordering system, while other donated uniform is washed and checked by volunteers before being made available.
Ms White said the charity has a simple rule when deciding whether clothing is suitable.
“Our rule of thumb is that if it is not good enough for our own children to wear, it's not good enough for someone else's child to wear,” she said.
Ms White said the impact goes beyond the financial saving, with children able to attend school without feeling different from their classmates.
“Particularly with teenagers and children when they're entering into their secondary education, if they do not have the right uniform, they would rather miss school than go in and feel different to their peers,” she said.
Level Trust is now encouraging other local businesses to donate unwanted uniforms.
“The more donations that we have that we can give out, the less money that we have to spend on purchasing new uniforms,” Ms White said.