A paisley school uniform clothing bank has seen a rise in families seeking help in providing school uniforms for their children.
Many families are starting to feel the pinch now during the crisis and some families are starting to struggle to ensure that their children are dressed appropriately for the weather and school.
Back to School Bank Paisley provides the youngsters with brand new, clean clothing which also includes a P.E kit and stationary too.
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Sandra Douglas, founder of the charity, said: “The amount of people that are looking for help has doubled. Everything we are doing has doubled this year. You will find at the start of the year, so January, February and March will always be a quiet time.
“Between the end of June and August, those are the busiest months we have got as that is the run up to the school year.
“We have noticed a fair few people coming in.”
Sandra founded the bank after she saw someone buy uniforms like trousers and a jacket for one of the pupils for their Christmas presents.
It made Sandra feel quite upset that people were getting uniforms as Christmas presents and she knew then that some people were in a bad way.
She thought that people handed in spare shopping into food banks and that perhaps people could do the same for school uniforms too to help those people in much need out.
All the uniforms that are given out are brand new with the labels still attached as Sandra believes that children should feel the same pride, respect and dignity as their peers.
The aim of the bank is to provide clothing and other school essentials for children to Primary One right through to senior years of secondary school.
The Paisley uniform bank has seen an increase in numbers from those in their senior years of secondary school looking for new uniforms too.
Sandra explained: “What I have noticed is that we did a lot of primary school at first but now we are getting more from the high schools. We are getting more from them than we ever did before.
“We also seem to have more boys than girls - there is no rhyme or reason to that, but we are definitely getting an increase of those from high school.
“This is quite impactful because these people are very aware of their circumstances, how they look. We are very careful about getting uniforms, like skinny trousers, if that is what they are asking for.”
The items come in discreet bags so the children are not aware that they came from a clothing bank, just that someone cared to get their uniform sorted for that year.
The clothing bank is always looking for more new clothes and those who can give a hand by volunteering to help with the running of the bank.
To find out more information about referral, how to donate and find out how to volunteer at the bank, visit www.facebook.com/backtoschoolbankpaisley/ .
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