THE ninth annual School Uniform Bank Day organised by the Redditch Labour Party last Saturday has been hailed a huge success.
A six week donation period saw thousands of new and used items of clothing sent in to be redistributed.
This vast amount was sorted and organised by volunteers before the public were invited in to take what they needed.
By the time the doors opened at 11am a queue had formed from the Ecumenical Centre down to the library as more than 300 families waited for the opportunity to source branded and generic items for their children.
With the cost of a brand new school uniform and shoes easily reaching over £100, many parents told volunteers that the event was ‘a life saver’.
One parent said: “Thank you so much, without this clothing bank I would not be able to afford all the school uniform.”
Another mum added: “it’s very good, helps with all the cost. I have four children under 15 and the cost is horrendous.”
Joseph Baker, who initiated the original project, said: “It was great to see the amount of support for our ninth Uniform Bank, it goes to show you the failure of Government that there are families out there who can not afford school uniforms.
“A massive thanks goes to everyone who helped make this possible.”
His collegague Juliet Barker added: “It was such a pleasure to be able to help people today… to watch faces light up with relief, and to feel as if we were doing something worthwhile to support the people of our town.
“It felt like Labour was the beating heart of Redditch, helping to keep everybody going, and I felt so proud to help.”
At the end of the day some left over items were sent to the Old Needle Works charity shop, and the rest will be in a container to Tanzania. “It’s very important to us that this is also an event which saves tonnes of textiles from landfill – nearly everything donated will get reused, whether that’s here in Redditch or by families many miles across the world,” said joint organiser Sharon Harvey.
“Redditch Labour Party would like to extend their thanks to everyone who donated items, as well as the local businesses which acted as drop off points.
“The Kingfisher Centre collected approximately 40 per cent of the items while Omega Therapies and Inspire CIC collected a full van load between them.
“Several local schools also sent in donations from lost property and promoted the event to parents.
“We must also thank the Emmanuel Church, Ecumenical Centre for hosting the event, Batchley Support Group for the loan of their van, and to the Goddess Temple Wiccan Group who donated over £200 which was used to buy new shoes and socks for the event.”
