Here's the Halifax team helping Calderdale parents save money on school uniform and recycle more

The free school uniform exchange at Halifax YMCA is not only helping save families money, it also stops thousands of items of clothing ending up in landfill.

The project opened five years ago and has grown rapidly since. What started with just a small box-full of items is currently taking over the ground floor of the YMCA and helped more than 500 families last year.

Halifax YMCA Manager Debbie Pearson came up with idea after a conversation with another parent at one of the YMCA’s rollerskating sessions about the difficulty in finding somewhere to pass on uniform that children have outgrown.

The exchange is a massive help for families struggling financially but is open to everyone, she stressed, and is becoming more widely used by people of all incomes.

Parents can pop into the YMCA and pick up everything their children need – from jumpers and blazers to PE kit and shoes – all for free.

Thanks to people dropping in pre-loved items their children have outgrown and schools bringing in unclaimed lost property, there is plenty to go around, including clothing with the logos of schools all across Calderdale.

Some families come in every year to drop off uniform their children can no longer wear and swap it for the same items in the next size up.

It has been especially valuable to the area’s most vulnerable. Debbie said she had one woman come in who was crying because she could not afford new uniform for her children.

"She told me she was having to choose between buying school uniform or feed her children,” said Debbie.

"I had another man who came in who was having to get uniform for his five children and he just didn’t know how he was going to afford it.”

Debbie says she has been handing families like these four or five school jumpers per child as she knows they may struggle to dry them if they are concerned about the cost of putting the heating on or using tumble dryers as energy costs increase this winter.

All the uniform is in good condition. Because so many children were homeschooled for months during the pandemic, they have had a large amount of items donated that have hardly been used or even still with tags on.

Any donated items that are too used to pass on are reused elsewhere. Polo shirts are sent away to be made into dusters and Debbie is looking to form a sewing team who can use old jumpers to make dog blankets for the RSPCA.

“People who come in are really lovely. We’ve got a real little community going on,” said Debbie.

"Our staff and volunteers are brilliant. We couldn’t do this without them.

The service is open all-year-round during the YMCA office hours - Mondays between 10am and 2.30pm; Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 10am and 4pm; and Saturdays between 10am and 12pm.

Halifax YMCA also has a rail of uniform available to pick up for free at Morrisons in Illingworth.

For more information call the YMCA on 01422 353626 or email [email protected] .