School uniform swap shop 'saves money and tackles second hand clothes stigma'

An important development from the financial markets: School uniform swap shop 'saves money and tackles second hand clothes stigma'Image source, JonImage caption, Jon launched the Free School Clothes website in March and his children Tom and Sion help him with the scheme ByMatt MurrayBBC WalesPublished7 hours agoA man who set up a uniform swap shop at his children's primary four years ago now has more than 200 schools involved. Jon from Cardiff came up with the idea as a result of the cost-of-living crisis, to help parents with the financial burden of paying for a uniform which can run into hundreds of pounds. From a plastic collection box outside Jon's house, the Free School clothes scheme has now launched a website and 8,000 items have been exchanged.

Jon says the website, which launched in March, has the potential to save Welsh families more than £50m a year in total. Figures from the UK government put the average cost of a uniforms at about £343 annually for primary school children and £442 for a comprehensive pupil. "If you've got more than one kid that's a significant additional cost to the family budget," said Jon.

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"This free online swap shop built around the school community and families means they can list their good quality outgrown school clothes and offer them to other families within the school community for free and other families can then browse and request items and they can arrange a local collection of the items that they need. "We always say second hand doesn't need to be mean second best. "Image caption, Jon, pictured with his children and their deputy head teacher, started the scheme at his children's school, Ysgol Treganna in 2022, and still organises the swaps for the schoolBoth Jon's children Tom, 10 and Sion, six, help their dad with sorting the clothes out.

Tom described the early days as "chaotic". "The front room was just full of school clothes and there was a table with loads of clothes on and then more tables with more school clothes on them and I helped with sorting them by age and school," he said. Image caption, Elise, a mum of three, has benefited from the scheme with a new school jumper for her son CharlieAlmost half of parents said they're worried about the cost of school uniforms, according to research by the charity Save the Children and the Baby Bank Alliance network.

Elise, a mum of three, has just picked up a new uniform for her son Charlie. "It's really expensive, I've got three kids you've got to get jumpers, T-shirts, trousers, shoes, double all of them because of the washing, so it's amazing for saving money but also I never buy anything new if I can help it because it seems such a waste when there's pre-loved which can be handed on. "Elise said she can always find what she needs through the scheme.

Economists are analysing what the news means for the markets.