Children’s charity Wood Street Mission says it has seen a 33% increase in the number of families coming forward for help paying the cost of school uniforms.
It launched a four-year, £1 million project at the start of summer for parents struggling with the costs of getting their children back to school.
A third of the million-pound fund has been earmarked specifically for Salford children.
A spokesperson for Wood Street said: “We are aware of high levels of child poverty in Salford – earmarking a third of the budget is intended to help meet this need.
“As the project develops we will review the allocation earmarked for Salford families; it could change but will always be fair and transparent.
“Once the family is referred we will help all children within the family who need school uniform. Sometimes all will need help. At other times families will just need help with one item such as a blazer.”
Wood Street Mission launch £1m school uniform fund to help parents in Salford
School uniforms are one of parents’ biggest yearly spends with average sports and classroom kit costing up to £220 per child.
Over 1 in 4 children in Salford is living in poverty and Salford City Council has not provided school uniform grants for some years.
Now the charity says it’s distributed kit to families worth over £85,000 since the start of the campaign.
1,741 children and 835 families have been helped, and the numbers are already up a third up on last year.
The increase has been driven by a big hike in the number of referrals from schools – 330 families were referred by schools or workers attached to schools as compared with 200 last year.
Families referred to SmartStart received school uniform with an average value of £102.
Each family was allocated a virtual budget for their children which allowed them choose the uniform they needed most from a range of non-branded items including trousers, skirts, jumpers, shirts, blazers and fleeces.
Roseanne Sweeney, chief executive of Wood Street Mission said: “It’s sad so many families are clearly struggling to afford basic school costs but I am proud of the difference we have been able to make with the project.”
