Not having a uniform can be a major barrier to education. It is deeply concerning that some children could be lost to education just because they don’t have the clothes they need. School uniforms, in some cases, can cost as much as £300. As families struggle with the cost-of-living crisis and rising energy bills, providing school uniforms for their children can become impossible.
That’s why Vanquis Banking Group launched it’s School Uniform Fund in June 2022, together with School-Home Support and the Dixons Academies Trust, to provide the vital support to ensure children have everything they need to attend school, be ready to learn and achieve their best potential. We continued to operate this fund during 2023, and the fund has been doubled for 2024. It is available to School-Home Support’s practitioners in Bradford, Blackpool, Liverpool, London and Manchester and enables them to buy clothes that children need to attend school.
School-Home Support is a charity that we work very close with, supporting children and families to maximise educational opportunities and improve life chances. Partnering with schools, local authorities and communities, School-Home Support looks beyond the classroom to understand and tackle a wide range of complex issues, building their engagement and resilience so that they can resolve future issues independently.
This can include (but isn’t limited to) blazers, jumpers, shirts, trousers, shoes, underwear, winter coats and PE kits. By ensuring a child has everything they need to wear for school we know children are much more likely to be in school and ready to learn.
In 2023, this project provided funding to families in Bradford, Blackpool, Liverpool, London and Manchester, so that they could access essential items of school uniform for their children, ensuring that they did not lose out on their education because of the cost-of-living challenges that many families are dealing with. In September, we were able to host their annual staff conference in our Bradford head office.
The Dixons Academies Trust is a well-established multi-academy trust of 16 schools serving the communities of West Yorkshire and the North West. These consist of 10 secondary academies, 3 primaries, 2 all-through academies and a standalone sixth form academy.
children supported so far in the scheme
worth of uniform provided
“This is a desperate time for many of the families we support, with the current cost of living crisis making basic essentials unaffordable. The School Uniform Fund helps to alleviate those financial pressures and ensures children have everything they need to attend school. We are incredibly grateful for the fantastic partnership we have with Vanquis Banking Group and for the recent development of the School Uniform Fund. We love working with you to improve the lives of those we support, and we know this fund will make a huge difference to many children and their families”.
Jaine Stannard School-Home Support CEO
Related pages
