We all know how hard the cost of living crisis is affecting some of our communities. In April, a new campaign was launched to help ease the cost of paying for school uniform; Cheltenham residents were asked to generously donate outgrown or unused uniform items, sports kit, bags and lunchboxes.

There was a fantastic response from so many residents and businesses, including a local Tesco store who donated several brand-new lunchboxes, and the Barclays safeguarding team who donated £115 worth of donations following a collection from their own pockets.

Donated items equated to approximately £2,700 in value

Over 600 donated items were received in April and May, equivalent to a low value purchase cost of new items of approximately £2,700! The first redistribution event on 27th June helped seven families with the school uniform items they needed, and the second event on 10th July helped 22 families.

Across the two events a total of 134 items were redistributed to 43 children from 29 families. At both these events families were also able to access advice on helping to pay their bills, save energy and gain employment.

The council is looking to run these events again later in the year, and it is hoped this project can be run year-round and open up to the wider community to continue to support families in need.

Many local schools run their own second-hand schemes

For the very basic uniform, for a couple of days wear and school essentials (from the cheapest local supermarket), the total cost is estimated to be £92 for one child at primary school age, not factoring in having to buy shorts/summer dresses. We know that many schools in our town run their own second-hand schemes and anything surplus from the events run by the council is being given to them.

A huge thank you to all the staff who are involved in this new campaign – all that washing, ironing and sorting took so much time and commitment!