School uniform drive helps families be ready for the year ahead

Uniforms for schools across Wolverhampton and the surrounding area were handed out to parents ahead of the big return to school at the Claregate Pub in Tettenhall on Sunday as part of a fun day.

The stall was a popular part of the event, which also featured a Freddie Mercury tribute, a bouncy castle and other entertainment, with more than 1,000 items available to give away.

The drive had been organised by Jamie-Leigh Price, who acts as a parent governor and head of the PTA at Claregate Primary School, and followed on from events at the start of the summer and at the end of August from the function room at the pub.

Ms Price said the idea for the school uniform drive had come from being at Claregate Primary on the last day of terms and having a conversation with the caretaker about the amount of lost property left over.

She said: "The caretaker turned to me and said 'I don't know what I'm going to do with all this lost property that's been unclaimed', so I had a think about it and, the next day, I said I'll pick it up and see what I can do with all of it.

"I then got in touch with Tom Wilkes at the Claregate and asked if I could use their function room and try to give away the uniforms.

"From there, the Tesco based near the Claregate got in touch and offered to put up a donation point in the store and it's just escalated and got bigger and bigger from there."

Ms Price said she had had support from the school, but had done the drive as a solo project, and said she had been surprised by how much it had blown up since the word got out.

She said: "When I started, it was just me advertising for free on social media that I was giving away the uniforms, but when Tesco started the donation point, I think people were more willing to go to a public place to donate as it felt a bit more professional.

"A lot of local schools then got involved and dropped off loads of uniforms, so we ended up with more than 1,000 items, and what surprised me was that we had a lot of parents from other schools asking about whether we had any of their uniforms, so the word was really getting out.

"This drive has been a lot more successful as parents were out at the event at the pub and they've been so grateful for the uniforms and being able to get what they need.

"The cost of living crisis is one of the biggest reasons why I did this as my eldest is starting high school and I've had to fork out hundreds for their uniform and I have four children, so that's expensive enough, and when other families have more children, they spend even more, so it's good to give them these uniforms which are as good as new."

Ms Price said she wanted to keep running the drives and spoke of her plans going forward.

She said: "There is a plan between myself, Tesco and the Claregate to start a community group and do things like get the Brownies and Scouts involved in a big shoebox-style food bank at Christmas.

"Then, next year around the summer, we're going to try and get all the local schools involved and use the park across the road to have a huge community-wide school drive with all the schools.

"I just want to help as many people as possible and make sure everyone is happy and got what they need for the school year and beyond."