Wigan charity helps parents with school uniform costs

A Wigan charity's offering support to parents - as research shows school uniform costs are stretching budgets for more than half of families in the North West.

Government and Children's Society figures reveal the price of uniform is now averaging between £250-£422 per child, with school branded items often bumping up the cost.

Rebuild With Hope is holding cut-priced uniform pop-up shops across Wigan and Leigh, with items costing as little as £1.

Claire Taylor is the charity's lead for partnerships and community development: "School logos on uniform is a problem and if you have children at school, you understand why schools want to do that, but when it comes to the cost of the uniform for families; I think it is a real struggle.

"If you are struggling with your budget and you've got maybe a few children at school and you have to buy all of these items, it soon adds up. We maybe can't provide all of the items that families need but we absolutely can provide them with the basics and we can help them to buy a little bit extra than they might need - for the children who are out and about, on their knees and getting uniform dirty. I think with our offer, parents can afford to buy more than the bare necessities.

"you can only afford to buy the absolute minimum, it's an extra stress when it comes to having uniform ready on a Monday morning. If you've got a few extras, and with our uniform sale you can afford a few extras as it's only £1 an item, I think that's a big help for parents."

All of the uniform is provided to the charity brand new from a third party, with the charity receiving support from Wigan Council to spread the word to families most in need of support.

Claire continued: "Sometimes we have people queueing out of the door before we even open and it's really good to see people get what they need and you know how relieved they are that they've got that school uniform ready for term to start.

"We also invite other organisations to the sales, to provide wrap around support. You might get advice from the Council's income maximisation team who can help with benefits, we also have Citizens Advice there and community link workers."

You can see the list of upcoming sales here.