Mum sets up school uniform exchange to help parents amid cost of living crisis
A mum has set up an incredible school uniform exchange to help parents amid the cost of living crisis.
With families bracing themselves for the colder weather as energy bills are set to soar from 1 October due to a price cap increase, many have been struggling to make ends meet.
This includes buying school uniforms for the new year.
To help families in need, Lisa Watkins, a mum-of-two from Caerphilly, Wales has a range of donated uniforms for primary and comprehensive schools in her town and the surrounding villages.
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“There’s just a huge range,” Lisa told BBC Wales. “We’ve got things which are normal uniform, PE kit, we’ve got some trainers, shoes, the branded items, non-branded items.”
Some of the items are brand new and still have their tags on, and Lisa is hoping the service will help ‘a lot of families’.
A survey by The Schoolwear Association found that a school uniform costs an average of £101.19 per child in secondary school.
Lisa, who has a child in primary school and another in comprehensive school, said that parents and carers are not only impacted when buying a new uniform, but also when children lose items which might require the school’s logo.
She added: “If everyone can use these kind of schemes, use second-hand, pre-loved uniforms, then that would remove the stigma for everyone.
“Everyone should have the choice to shop around and to not be forced into spending £300 on a uniform for each year. The cost is just astronomical.”
Earlier in the week, the BBC reported that school uniform logos could be scrapped in Wales to help families buy uniforms more cheaply.
The Welsh government are considering whether schools should ditch logos or use free of charge iron-on logos.
Meanwhile, Liz Truss – the newly appointed prime minister - is said to be freezing energy bills as her first move in her new role.
The 47-year-old, who is the third female prime minister in British history, will tackle the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Truss has not yet revealed how she plans to tackle the cost of living crisis when the energy cap is set to rise to a record £3,549 on 1 October.
Truss, who is set to announce plans to freeze energy bills on Thursday (8 September) has suggested that she may potentially pull back the 1.25 percent National Insurance rise that Rishi Sunak introduced as Chancellor of the Exchequer in March.