Free ‘nearly new’ school uniforms at Fresh Start event next week

Fresh Start and @EdinUniformBank are running a free ‘nearly new’ school uniform drop in for families in need of help with school uniforms on Wed 11th & Thurs 12th August at Fresh Start Pantry, 28 Ferry Rd Drive, EH4 4BR.

PLEASE NOTE: This event is ONLY for families at Forthview, Craigroyston, Pirniehall & St David’s Primaries and Craigroyston High School. We will not have uniform available for other schools.

Numbers will be limited due to Covid restrictions & uniform is subject to availability.

School uniforms: Every Council meets £100 clothing grant pledge

Every council in Scotland has delivered on an agreement that all eligible families will be able to receive a grant of at least £100 to cover the cost of school uniforms.       Continue reading School uniforms: Every Council meets £100 clothing grant pledge

New national school clothing grant

An estimated 120,000 families will benefit from a new £100 national minimum school clothing grant in Scotland as a result of partnership working between Scotland’s Local Authorities and the Scottish Government. It means for the first time all eligible families, regardless of their local authority area, will have access to the same minimum level of financial support for school clothing. Continue reading New national school clothing grant

The cost of going back to school

7854939_cpag_digital_images3opfs

Getting a child ready to return to school can be an expensive business. The cost of uniform, coat, shoes, bags and PE kit soon adds up. Despite this, the amount of financial help offered to low income families varies massively, with some local authorities offering as little as £20 per child for the whole year.

CPAG in Scotland want to make sure all local authorities pay an adequate minimum school clothing grant and that the Scottish Government is doing all it can to help families cover the costs of school clothing.

This year, the Scottish Government has a new power to set a minimum school clothing grant for the whole of Scotland – and we want them to use it.

Take 5 minutes to message your MSP and tell them what it really costs to clothe a child for school and explaining why you think every child in Scotland has the right to start term warm, comfortable and ready to learn. 

To get started, enter your postcode and click “Participate”.

UK government data provided by GovEval.

School Costs is a new short film jointly sponsored by the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) and CPAG in Scotland. Directed by Iain Henderson, winner of the BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award 2015, the film highlights the struggle of families on low incomes to meet the costs associated with their children attending school.

The testimony of the parents involved is drawn directly from qualitative research conducted as part of our Early Warning System.

Watch the film here