Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Alderman Gerardine Mulvenna with Jackie Patton, Head of Community Planning and Development for MEABC and Michele Campbell, Operations Director for Mid and East Antrim Community Advice Services.
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council’s FREE School Uniform Scheme, which is run in partnership with Mid and East Antrim Community Advice Services and supported by the Mid and East Antrim Poverty Action Group, is open for collections throughout the month of August.
Donations of all school uniform items, sports equipment and school bags are also still being accepted and can be dropped off at any of the sites below:
• Ballymena: The Braid, 1-29 Bridge Street - Monday to Friday, 10am - 3pm
• Larne: Unit 5, Murrayfield Shopping Centre, Larne - Monday to Friday, 10am - 3pm
• Carrickfergus: Education Room, Civic Centre, 11 Antrim Street Monday to Friday, 10am - 3pm
The highly successful scheme was initially piloted across the Borough in July 2019 and has been providing good quality pre-worn school uniforms ever since.
It can cost families up to £300 per child to buy school uniform ready for the new academic year. This places additional stress on families and in these tough times - with budgets already stretched - it could be ‘make or break’ for some of the households of the 30k schoolchildren in the Borough.
Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Alderman Gerardine Mulvenna, said:
“We’re delighted to be running this initiative once again. We have seen a fantastic number of school uniform items being donated throughout July.
“This scheme not only makes good financial sense, it also strengthens communities and reduces our impact on the environment. On average, each household bins more than 25kg of textiles a year. So rather than adding to the landfill volumes, families can help play their part in helping to sustain our beautiful environment.”
The school uniform scheme has accepted all good quality garments including trousers, coats, skirts, cardigans, blazers, shoes, jackets, trainers, jumpers, sports kits, polo shirts and dresses. The scheme is open to all families who require school uniform items – there is no qualifying criteria, and a referral is not required to access the scheme.
School uniforms are free of charge and uniform items are subject to availability. Beneficiaries will be asked to complete a very short questionnaire, which will be anonymous and allow Council to measure impact.
Please note, all venues listed will be closed for the Bank Holiday on Monday 28 August 2023.
For further information, log on to www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk/Uniform-Exchange