Clitheroe Salvation Army launches school uniform exchange as families face financial pressure

The Salvation Army in Clitheroe will hold a school uniform exchange drop-in on Friday, August 11th, from 10am to 2pm, at its church and community centre on Lowergate in Clitheroe.

New and pre-loved school uniform items will be available covering all ages, and all seasons, as demand for help increases with more people than ever struggling to make ends meet.

Anyone can access the uniform exchange, with all items available free of charge thanks to clothing donations from local schools, businesses and members of the Clitheroe community. The Salvation Army hosted its first uniform exchange in Clitheroe last year and saw an unprecedented amount of people accessing the service. With the rising costs in living and increases in household energy, this year the church and charity is expecting numbers to be even higher.

Aux-Captain Elizabeth Smith, church leader of The Salvation Army in Clitheroe, said: “People perceive Clitheroe to be wealthy, but it also has a lot of hardworking people living here who are struggling as inflation rates remain stubbornly high. The school summer holidays already bring added expense to families - and to then face extra outgoings for mandatory uniforms that children require for the new school year, it can be very costly.

“For some families with more than one child in school, the costs of new uniforms could climb into the hundreds of pounds; an amount that people just don’t have whilst also paying to keep a roof over their heads, food in children’s bellies and energy costs to run a household.

“We just want to do our best for the local community and through this uniform exchange we hope to ease the burden.

“People are welcome to take what they need and we encourage others to leave what they no longer use, meaning that the uniform exchange also ensures that clothes in good condition don’t go into landfill. We wouldn’t be able to run it without the generous and kind donations from the community, and this is a key example of others helping others.”

The uniform exchange is an affordable, cost effective and sustainable alternative to throwing away clothing, whilst also encouraging the recycling of old uniforms and will offer the basics of shirts, polo tops, trousers and skirts, but it also carries extras such as sportswear, blazers and jumpers as well as some branded items for schools in the area.

Any donations of pre-loved and new school uniforms are very welcomed, accommodating all schools within Clitheroe, and can be donated at the charity shop within the community centre.

For people looking to support the uniform exchange but who have no school uniform to contribute, financial donations of any size are also welcomed but people are please encouraged to only give what they can afford. Donations can be made via The Salvation Army Clitheroe’s Just Giving page; www.justgiving.com/tsa-community-support-000065