Leighton Buzzard Children’s Centre provides school uniform during Cost of Living crisis
Leighton Buzzard Children’s Centre has helped to provide school uniform to almost 150 children.
Children from around 80 families have been helped this term thanks to pre-loved, branded items, including PE kits and jumpers, that were donated to the centre this summer. The Children’s Centre team also provided pupils with a selection of generic skirts, pinafores, trousers and dresses, as well as coats, shoes, trainers, football boots and sportswear.
Councillor Sue Clark, Central Bedfordshire Council Executive Member for Families, Education and Children, said: “We were also able to provide some brand-new items, thanks to Morrisons and Wear2School, and we’re extremely grateful for their support.
“The staff at the children’s centre work hard to pull this together, as it takes time to collect and sort through the uniforms, before setting up the event. We have received some good feedback from parents saying it’s helped take some pressure off them, and we hope it’s also helped to set our children up for the new term.”
This is the third event that the centre, which is run by Central Bedfordshire Council, has held to give away uniforms to families. The idea began during the first lockdown when the centre was approached by a parent who was struggling to afford a school uniform for her children.
The event relies on donations of pre-loved uniforms which staff from the children’s centre collect during the summer holidays, and then sort and categorise. Generic uniforms that are left over is shared with other children’s centres.
The Leighton Buzzard Children’s Centre hopes to run a similar event next year. To find out more about the Central Bedfordshire Council’s Children’s Centres, visit the website.