A school uniform clothing bank will open in St Peter’s next week to help families in receipt of benefits and struggling with the cost of living.
The clothing bank has been set up by the Baptist Church.
It will open on Monday (August 7) from 10am until noon and then operate every Monday and Friday until stock runs out.
According to a poll by The Children’s Society earlier this year uniform costs have risen despite government guidance last year aimed at ensuring: “the cost of school uniforms is reasonable and secures the best value for money”. It included new rules on branded items and affordability.
It is estimated school uniform is now costing £400 per year on average at Secondary level and £287 per year for primary children.
Thanet councillor Jenny Matterface, who volunteers at St Peter’s food bank, said: “School uniform for many families is a constant worry at this time of the year as the autumn term beckons. To try to help families on universal credit, a clothing bank has been set up in conjunction with the church and with volunteers who also help at the food bank.
“The clothing bank opens on Monday August 7th at 10am until noon with good quality items on offer for free. It will operate on Mondays and Fridays until stocks run out or demand falls.”
Those attending are asked to bring proof of identity and benefits entitlement along to St. Peter’s Baptist Church, Church Street, St. Peter’s.
a noble cause , but a sad reflection of the mess the tories have made of life for the average person
Everyone loves negativity and blaming others instead of trying to help. Great job real world! Keep up the good work!
Or a sad reflection of families that breed breed breed without the income to support their hoard of children. At some stage parents need to be held accountable for their decisions. It’s not the government’s fault that people without jobs keep popping out the kids and expecting the rest of us to pay for their upkeep. Society blames everything on the government rather than accepting the blame for their own shortcomings. Unfortunately, for a lot of people Parental responsibility seems to be a thing of the past .
The birth of children is dropping in the UK.
Who’s is going to service the needs of the country in a couple of generations?
You would prefer AI to human?
If your answer is yes then you are already dead soul wise.
“Horde”, not “hoard”, unless you think these children are little gems.
Parents are not responsible for spiralling interest rates, for soaring mortgages and rent, increases in electricity and gas prices, more and more expensive food.
It is quite reasonable to imagine that when parents had their children, some years ago, they were comfortably off. It is not their faults if bungling incompetency in government has brought them to their knees financially.
And no matter what else, it is rather unsavoury that organisations capitalize out of the need for children to have school uniform.
It’s not ‘capitalising’ but letting parents or carers know the facility is there if they need help. Without a budget for promoting this, many who might benefit wouldn’t know the opportunity is there.
I wasn’t referring to the excellent service provided by the school uniform clothing bank so much as the schools themselves that demand specific patterns of clothing items only available at one or two nominated and expensive clothing shops.
My apologies, I misunderstood!
We asked specifically for blazers and skirts for the very reasons you highlight.
🙂
I’ll happily donate as others have done to me in hard times. Before you judge be aware that St Georges is the best school around for non-grammarites but the uniform is extortionate to buy. So why should poorer parents he excluded from using a good school on the basis of the cost of the uniform? I work and I don’t qualify for benefits or food banks but I can’t afford to buy it new so my daughter’s uniform is all secondhand. That way I can afford to buy her decent shoes. We’re a good, hardworking family but there’s no shame in not being able to afford new uniforms for our children. What I don’t like is people being too lazy to “make to and mend” or expect handouts. We have 2 kids, for context.
Where when can we drop uniform donations? I work Mondays and Wednesdays so unfortunately can’t pop by when the food bank is open.
You are welcome to drop off donations at the church on a Friday between 10 and 12p.m or leave in the porch at the side of 5 Vicarage Street, St Peter’s.
Thank you.
Why only those on benefits?
So many families who are working and just about able to feed their children,pay bills and also clothe their children. These are the families who don’t fall into the benefit groups but cannot afford to buy new uniforms.
It’s a sorry state when those who are trying their hardest to provide for their families aren’t able to access even this charitable gesture.
Andrew, At some stage people need to take responsibility for themselves. People need to grow up and sometimes they need to plan families around their finances and budget accordingly. Why is it that working families tend to have less children than families that are on benefits?
Contrary to what you believe, the government isn’t responsible for everything that goes wrong. We are all supposedly intelligent beings and as such we should all be able to realise that we are all responsible our own actions and we live our own lives based around decisions and choices we alone make.
I have read many of your posts and replies on this site and you show nothing but hatred pure vitriol towards the government but then advocate for criminals who ruin other peoples lives to remain in our communities. Everyone has to make their own life choices and if those choices go wrong it’s not the government’s fault. It wouldn’t surprise me if you even blame the government if there’s no jam in your donut.
Doughnut, not donut, unless you’re American. “Hatred, pure vitriol” is rather a strong description of Andrew’s supposed feelings towards the current government. He may simply despise them.
A bit late in the day, I am going to “take responsibility for myself.”
I should have had no children, so I disown them and refuse to support them any more.
I also failed to commit suicide before I reached the age of 60 years and became a burden on the taxpayer by becoming ill.
I will rectify this immediately!
My “goodbye note” will include an apology for having been born with the assistance of a new NHS District Nurse, not to mention claiming my free operation in which my tonsils and adenoids were removed. I also got free cod-liver oil and orange juice (consumed in that order to let the orange mask the flavour of the cod-liver oil.)
To my shame, I never paid a penny for my education.
If only I had been more responsible at the age of 16 and declined to be a burden on the state by selfishly expecting to have my inflamed appendix removed at the tax payers expense.
If I had really “taken responsibility for myself”,I would have cut myself open and taken the offending organ out myself, presumably with my parents assistance as they would have preferred to see their child in agony rather than be seen as relying on others when they should have thought about this possibility when they got married.
No, don’t try to talk me out of it! I just can’t live with the thought that I have joined with my fellow citizens in any kind of shared endeavour to make our society fairer. I can see that I was just scrounging off my betters.
Goodbye, cruel world! I should have ignored the lot of you and not lifted a finger to help! What a happier country we would have been if we had refused to care about anybody else except our “responsible” selves.
Hi Keefogs
I would urge you to contact the Samaritans. But that would just perpetuate the system in which people rely on the selfless charity of others.
(For the avoidance of doubt, I have nothing but the highest respect for the Samaritans and the legions of other organizations and people who give up their time and energy for others)
Could anyone please provide the address for Peter’s Baptist Church ? Thank you
Vicarage St, St Peter’s, Broadstairs CT10 2SG