School Uniform Bank

[Nevertime]

I wanted to tell you about this initiative that has grown in my town in the last couple of years. We're a town of 100,000 people with high deprivation and social problems.

A group of parents set up this school uniform bank and collect used uniform and other school items for all the local schools. They even do Chridtmas jumpers and fancy dress!

A local Church gives them storage space and a base to open from (one Saturday per month) and there are drop of points at other churches around the town. Everything is free.

They've given out more than 10,000 items. That's 10,000 items saved from landfil and which parents didn't need to buy.

Just in case anyone has the time/inclination to do something similar. Their FB posts sometimes make me cry.

@MargaretThursday

The concern I have with things like this is ime what happens is the middle class people who could afford to buy their own tend to use it, and the people who struggle see it as a stigma, and avoid it.

We've been looking to try and set up similar, but trying to avoid the above happening, and have been looking into different ways of doing it. Would you say that's happened round you, and if not have you put in ways to combat it?

There's so much if it though that it doesn't need to be about helping the "needy". In fact, that's a way to remove the stigma. It doesn't matter who makes use of it, it's as much about avoiding waste as it is helping the poor.

Surely it's a good thing if some of the middle-class people use it too - both because it still saves items from landfill, and because it will gradually mean that buying/wearing second-hand becomes normalised, and then in time any stigma will reduce, so that those who do need to use it will feel less bothered about going there.

I'm not a parent, but would be happy to volunteer at something like this if it was in my town, though I'm not able to start/organise. I wonder if the volunteer centre has details of anything like that. I could wash/sort/organise, as well as volunteer at occasional sessions, and it's the sort of volunteering that would fit in my schedule.

(to add: I know that individual schools do it in my area, their own second-hand sales, but I mean more of a city-wide third-party-run sort of thing)

@DelphiniumBlue

My dd2 went to a secondary without uniform, it was a nightmare for bullying over clothing- brands were everything. She's strong minded and plays rugby so she never got too much grief for wearing supermarket brands but I know kids pestered for designer stuff - probably a lot of knock offs, but lots of Chanel t shirts and d&g buckles, Tommy etc her 6th form had formal uniform, far cheaper

I think the fact that it's away from the schools helps. Parents don't need to tell school that they need help. The group running ours is very focused on recycling though. It doesn't "sell itself" as helping poor people so much as recycling perfectly usable clothing.

It’s a great idea.
For some reason in my area people don’t seem that keen on second hand uniform. We have second hand uniform sales and the take up is quite poor. We end up putting loads of it in the clothes bank which is a shame as all the items with a logo on is just turned into rags.

@MargaretThursday

The concern I have with things like this is ime what happens is the middle class people who could afford to buy their own tend to use it, and the people who struggle see it as a stigma, and avoid it.

We've been looking to try and set up similar, but trying to avoid the above happening, and have been looking into different ways of doing it. Would you say that's happened round you, and if not have you put in ways to combat it?

If you live in an area where this might happen then you need to work with it not against it.

Some as food share initiatives, younger to be really clear in your advertising that anyone can come, it's not about 'helping those in need' it's about reducing waste and anyone who comes along is doing you a favour.

Then put a reasonable limit on what people can take away at one time. One carrier bag full per person visiting or whatever.

When I left school many years ago I gave my uniform to a friends sister because she really wanted the skirt!

When my DS was at school I gave any uniform in decent condition to the school to distribute as it saw fit.

@MargaretThursday

The concern I have with things like this is ime what happens is the middle class people who could afford to buy their own tend to use it, and the people who struggle see it as a stigma, and avoid it.

We've been looking to try and set up similar, but trying to avoid the above happening, and have been looking into different ways of doing it. Would you say that's happened round you, and if not have you put in ways to combat it?

You have to go into accepting that there will be a small minority of people who don’t technically need it who use, but that is a trade off that is (imo) worth it. Far better 2 piss takers and 8 people in need benefit than the 8 people in need miss out.

Also, uniform banks actually need people who can afford good quality uniform - without those people donating then you don’t have stock.

One way I’ve encouraged a couple of people at ours who get wound up by it is not just to see it as a uniform bank for people in need - it’s also about stopping a shit load of uniform ending up in landfill. That’s also a massive help with the stigma issue - we really push the eco angle and local schools help encourage people to use us by pushing that side too.

We have two ways of accessing stuff. We have a swap shop - you bring items in, that gives you a token per item and therefore you can take items out (and that also helps that you don’t have to take stuff on the same day - which staggers donations).
The swap shop also helps with the stigma/pride angle as people may know in their heart the stuff they bring in will go straight in the bin because it’s done, but they still have something to swap.

We also have a referral system. I fought quite hard with the rest of the committee not to have only a referral system from social workers, schools and midwives (we also have a baby bank).
We take referrals from anyone who works with families - one of the people who referred to us a lot before the group shut was the local Guide leader. Families confided in her a lot.
For referrals we have two options - people can be referred and they come along themselves and collect their stuff or the person doing the referring can collect it. That means the family can be reassured that no-one at the uniform bank knows they were referred and that has helped enormously because we are in quite a small area.

The one by us is connected to the local food bank (not the trussell one) and they can assess it there who is actually in need.

But then that is stigmatising wearing gifted uniform, quite the opposite of the School Uniform free shop in our City. Here is it promoted as 'to stop it going into landfill' and it is known that everyone is welcome. It isn't connected with poverty and there is no requirement to prove you are "worthy" of someone's donation. That removes the stigma.

Plus, of course, there are all the families who might not have reached food bank levels of poverty, but whose budget would be greatly helped by not having to pay out £££ for something they need, that another family would otherwise have to bin / send to the ragman.

The concern I have with things like this is ime what happens is the middle class people who could afford to buy their own tend to use it, and the people who struggle see it as a stigma, and avoid it.

If the aim is encouraging reuse, reducing waste and supporting a circular economy, then it shouldn’t matter whether it’s middle class families using it or not. If it’s open to all they’re not ‘taking the piss’, and making it means tested, a voucher scheme or linked to benefits is only going to increase the stigma because it’ll be seen as being only for poor families. Some people will have issues with secondhand stuff, you can’t fix that all by yourself. Just make sure it’s widely publicised as open to everyone and have a non-judgemental attitude to the people who use it.

You could charge a nominal amount for membership. Really nominal. And brand it as an environmental project.

I've just put a huge bag of uniform ready for collection

Ive tried my best to give it away but no takers

I've been trying since the beginning of the year to give away a huge bag of teen uniform (some not even worn)
Every time I bought it, the schools closed, and he had outgrown it before they went back.
Something is wrong somewhere when you cant give it away.

@piglet81

I give our outgrown uniform directly to school - they distribute things discreetly to families who need it.

I do the same. At least I know it's going to the right children then.

@MargaretThursday

The concern I have with things like this is ime what happens is the middle class people who could afford to buy their own tend to use it, and the people who struggle see it as a stigma, and avoid it.

We've been looking to try and set up similar, but trying to avoid the above happening, and have been looking into different ways of doing it. Would you say that's happened round you, and if not have you put in ways to combat it?

I reckon I would be percieved as middle class and should be buying full price new stuff... But actually the reason I have dragged myself into the 'middle class' away from my lower than 'working class' roots is that I am not frivolous with my money and don't buy things new and will look out for schemes like this. When my kids were little and there were surestart schemes I got to know the ladies running them really well and had good conversations about whether I should be attending their classes - they unilaterally wanted me to keep attending to keep the service open, which meant that they existed to help those in real need. If the numbers were just based on the financially destitute then the service would have closed for lack of numbers...

Agree goldfluffyclouds

If the numbers were just based on the financially destitute then the service would have closed for lack of numbers...

And if something is just based on the financially destitute then you’ll find they won’t come as they won’t want people to know they qualify/need.

We got a massive donation from a local businessman one year for the playscheme I used to run and made it free. We got our lowest take up for 12 years!
When I spoke to people after they all said they were put off by the idea of being seen to need charity. The next year we charged, a low amount, and we were back to being massively over subscribed.

This is fantastic! Such a great idea! Well done to whoever organises it all!

@piglet81

I give our outgrown uniform directly to school - they distribute things discreetly to families who need it.

Our school has bags and bags of uniform to give away and only the middle class mums ever want it.

They also had free boxes of fruit and veg during lockdown but the families that needed it wouldn't take it, school staff ended up taking some home and binning the rest.

There's a clothes bank here which distributes 7 sets of second hand clothing as well as new underwear and socks to families who need it.

There's also a region wide initiative which collects winter coats.

I think it's really sad it is needed. When I was a skint single mum on benefits I managed to clothe my child from a combination of hand me downs, George at Asda and Ebay. Families are far more stretched these days.

We have this in our town too and it's a brilliant idea. You can drop off Christmas jumpers, school shoes in good condition and winter coats for kids too.

It doesn’t need to be about those who can’t afford new it can also be marketed as reducing landfill and environmental reasons. That way it reduces the “stigma” of using it.

We do second hand uniform resales at school. I make use of it. On the face of it we might look well off but reality is no we aren’t.

There are community fridges running to reduce food waste. I’ve not accessed it but a huge varied demographic does.

Set up schemes based on environmental purposes. Those who are in financial need will also access and organisers can always set aside required items for them/support as required.