JanineBy Natalie Tharraleos
The Leeds School Uniform Exchange was set up in 2020 by local social enterprise Zero Waste Leeds, building on the work of those like Harehills based Education Aid who realised some families in Leeds couldn’t afford school uniform and set out to do something about it.
The average cost of school uniform has been calculated at over £300 per child per year! And we know tonnes of unwanted, perfectly good uniform was ending up in landfill. The scheme was set up to make it as easy as possible for people in Leeds to ask for or offer good quality, secondhand school uniform. Whether you’re motivated by the need to save a few quid, or to do your bit for the environment, or perhaps a bit of both, they’re here to make sharing good quality school uniform as easy as it can be.
Parents can find their nearest school uniform exchange on a map on the website www.leedsuniformexchange.org.uk. They just enter the name of the school or postcode of where you live in the search engine on the map, and it’ll bring up local schools or schemes in the area that have second hand uniform available for free to anyone that needs it.
Parent’s don’t need to exchange anything, they just take the uniform they need, or donate any outgrown, unwanted uniform to the exchange. The website also lists weekly pop up shops that happen throughout the year, as well as future pop up events that are happening in the school holidays.
Three years on and the impact has been truly amazing. There are currently 223 exchanges active in our city – a mix of Facebook groups organised by parents, exchanges run by schools, and pop up exchanges run by local community groups, and this number is ever increasing.
Last year we helped promote and run pop up shops across Leeds and it is estimated that more than 12,300 items of uniform were given away for free to more than 3,000 families. Not only has this saved local families money, we estimate £210,000, but it has greatly benefited the environment too. According to their calculations the number of items given out amounts to 44,600kg of CO2 emissions saved and 2.5 tonnes of textile waste saved from landfill. Using uniform exchanges rather than buying new is the best option and it is our mission to make second hand the first choice.
This summer there are 38 pop up shops planned across Leeds, full details can be found on the website, as well as 24 donation points where unwanted / outgrown uniform can be donated to ensure that it is shared with families that need it this year. Our target is for more schools to start their own school uniform exchange, there are currently 294 schools in Leeds and it would be amazing if there was a uniform exchange in all of them. There are some great guides on how to start up an exchange on the website, but it can be as simple as setting up a Facebook group where parents can exchange uniform amongst themselves. For more information on the scheme, please visit the website or contact info@zerowasteleeds.org.uk.
Calender of School Uniform Exchange Pop ups throughout the summer:
LEEDS SCHOOL UNIFORM EXCHANGE POP UP SHOP
Date: 7 August 2023
Time: Session 1: 12:00 – 2:30pm, Session 2: 3:00-5:30pm
Address: Breeze in the Park, Haslewood Park, Oxton Way, Burmantofts, LS9 7UZ
LEEDS SCHOOL UNIFORM EXCHANGE POP UP SHOP
Date: 12 August 2023
Time: Session 1: 12:00 – 2:30pm, Session 2: 3:00-5:30pm
Address: Breeze in the Park, Harehills Park, Harehills, LS9 6ND
LEEDS SCHOOL UNIFORM EXCHANGE POP UP SHOP
Date: 22 August 2023
Time: Session 1: 12:00 – 2:30pm, Session 2: 3:00-5:30pm
Address: Breeze in the Park, East End Park, LS9 9NG
NOWELL MOUNT COMMUNITY CENTRE UNIFORM POP UP SHOP
Date: 29 August 2023
Time: 12:00 – 4:00pm
Address: Nowell Mount Community Ctr, Nowell Mount, Harehills, LS9 6JJ
For the Breeze in the Park events, just purchase a ticket which I believe costs 50p per child. If you just want uniform it is free entry if you lets the reception desk You can buy the tickets on https://www.breezeleeds.org/breeze-in-the-park/
