The secretary of a school uniform exchange in Co Tyrone has said demand for its service has doubled, if not trebled this year in comparison to last year.
The Coalisland Community Food Bank has operated the exchange for the second year in a row in response to the rising cost of living locally.
More than 500 families have used the service this year as the price of uniforms continue to rise. Secretary Dympna Heron has thanked the local community for their donations but said it’s a shame that it has to be done.
READ MORE: Coalisland Primary school hailed for their efforts in helping families amid cost of living crisis
“We operate the Coalisland Community Food Bank and it’s been going since 2020,” Dympna said.
“It became clear to us that people were struggling even more. This year with the prices of everything we knew that people needed a bit more help.
“We were inundated last year with requests from families, we had 230 families who came to us looking help with uniforms.
“We decided to give it a go again this year as the prices of fuel, electricity and heating have all gone up again.
“We did an advertisement in June looking for donations and it just took off. The public were fantastic and we can’t thank them enough for all their donations.
“Last Friday we opened to the public and we were completely overwhelmed with the amount of people who came to us.
“I was that overrun that I just had to say to people to work away themselves with whatever they needed.
“The demand has doubled, if not trebled this year. It’s not just people on benefits that are using this now, we have parents coming in from households where they are both working.
Dympna added that some school blazers can cost as much as £75, which is not sustainable for many families who may have multiple children attending secondary school.
“People are struggling. The price of living and paying the bills, and the price of uniforms is just too much for a lot of people.
“A blazer for one of the local schools is £75, if you have two children at the one school that’s £150 before you even pay for anything else.”
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