Demand for free school uniforms has rocketed amid the ongoing cost of living crisis, a charity has revealed. Amid reports that school uniform logos could be scrapped in Wales under plans to ease financial burdens on families, Cardiff-based charity A Better Fit has said that this year they are busier than ever.
The charity recently said that they were "in desperate need of volunteers" who could sort through and help distribute donations to those in need as more and more people use the service. A Better Fit charity provides second-hand school uniforms and items for free to families based in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. The charity told WalesOnline that they had seen an increase in families using its services.
Founder Kathryn Wakeham says that the cost of living crisis is having "a huge effect" on parents and that she has seen an increase in those using the service this year - with some parents even considering not sending their child to school because they were unable to afford the school uniform.
READ MORE: School uniform logos could be scrapped in Wales to help with cost of living crisis
The Children's Society, which has been campaigning for affordable school uniforms, estimates that the average uniform for secondary schools was £337 in 2020. A survey of 1,000 parents by the charity revealed that the average annual cost for school uniforms in the UK was £337 for a secondary school pupil and £315 for a primary school pupil in 2020. However, the survey revealed that parents thought that £105 was a more reasonable cost for a secondary school uniform and £85 was more reasonable for a primary school uniform.
Kathryn set up A Better Fit three years ago when she found herself struggling to clothe her son for school. Thinking that she couldn't be the only parent struggling with uniform costs, Kathryn reached out to the school, who explained that they had spare uniforms that they were giving to parents who were struggling.
However, Kathryn said that the school was finding that parents didn't like going into the school as they felt uncomfortable. Kathryn approached a local charity to ask if she could use a small amount of their space to set up A Better Fit, with the charity growing from there.
The charity has donation bins for school uniforms in hubs throughout Cardiff, as well as in Dinas Powys. Parents can drop into the centre or make requests through phone calls, WhatsApp, emails, or Facebook if they are looking for particular items. The charity is run throughout the year.
"I think [the cost of living crisis] is having a huge effect. We've literally just had a family in who were unable to cover the three children's uniforms because everything has gone up so much in price. Their priority is obviously gas and electricity, to put food in the children's bellies," Kathryn said.
"[Parents say] that it would be difficult for them to source all of these items if it wasn't for us having them available. The cost is astronomical, and they didn't think they'd be able to cover the whole of the uniforms. Some of them were even saying that they were considering not sending their children to school because they didn't have a uniform," she continued.
The number of parents using the charity is "going up and up", Kathryn said, adding that the team has got busier and busier since June. She added: "We're rushed off our feet. We don't leave shifts when we normally do. It's constantly messy because we can't keep up."
Kathryn said that the cost of PE kits for secondary school children is a particular difficulty for parents coming in to use A Better Fit's services: "There's so much PE kit they need for high school children - it's astronomical. Half of the time, they buy all the PE kit they're told to for year sevens and, by the middle of year seven, they quickly realise they're not actually going to be using it."
Coats and school bags are also an expense that parents are struggling with, Kathryn added. The charity is currently looking for donations of PE kits for any Cardiff high school as well as blazers and school ties. Kathryn said that last year had been comparatively quiet in terms of the number of people coming to the charity.
"The uniform is coming in and going straight back out again," she said. "It looks like we have mountains, but, for us it's not because it's come all off the shelves and gone out to people and we're just topping it back up - and that's constant."
Cardiff Council recently said that they had increased resources to deal with a "very high volume of applications for the pupil development grant, to help with school uniform costs." The council said that it had increased resources in the team to ensure that eligible families for the grant could be paid as soon as possible.
A council spokesperson said: “We’ve received a very high volume of applications for the pupil development grant, to help with school uniform costs, and we are working as quickly as possible to process them. We have increased resources in the team to make sure we can pay eligible families as soon as possible and we want to thank people for their patience as we work through all the applications.”
Grants to help with the cost of school uniform in Wales were recently raised by £100 for this year only. The pupil development grant is accessible for families who are on lower incomes and who qualify for certain benefits, linked to existing eligibility criteria for free school meals. The grant is £225 per learner and £300 for those entering Year Seven, in recognition on increased costs for children entering secondary school.
Families who qualify for the grant can submit a claim if they have a child in primary school (from reception to year six) or secondary school (from years seven to 11). However, families are only entitled to claim once per child, per school year, and pupils who receive free school meals due to transitional protection arrangements do not qualify for the funding.
In England, a new law which aims to lower the cost of school uniforms amid the ongoing cost of living crisis has been introduced. Under the rules, schools in England are required to ensure that uniform costs are “reasonable”, that students not obligated to wear “unnecessary” branded items and may come to school wearing supermarket brand uniforms. Schools must also ensure that second-hand uniforms are available to parents who need them.
The Welsh government plans to look into whether schools should have no logo or use iron-on logos free of charge. School governors, who set uniform policy rules for their schools will be asked for their views. You can read more on that here.
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