A Bury clothing bank has been re-stocked ahead of September as demand for school uniforms soar.

Volunteer organisation, Fishpool, Goshen, Redvales and Springs (FGRS) Community Hub, has received £180 worth of boys' and girls' shirts, trousers, skirts and cardigans as more than 850 children need access to uniforms.  

The group provides emergency food provision, a clothing bank and community assistance to struggling Bury residents and has thanked Tesco’s community champion, Wendy Howarth, for organising the donation.

Bury Times: Uniform donations

Volunteer at the hub, Gemma Goss, said: “As a small community group in Bury we don’t get much funding support, but last year we supported over 850 children to access school uniforms.

“This year the demand is even bigger.

“Wendy from our local Tesco store is a huge support.

“She secured us a donation of brand-new school uniforms for our families. She also advertises and supports us with communications and any help we need.

“Wendy and Tesco keep small groups like ours going, which makes a huge impact in our communities. Thank you, Tesco, and thank you, Wendy.”

Bury Times: Wendy (left) with volunteers from FGRS Community Hub

Wendy and the hub say they want to ensure that struggling families can still access high-quality school uniforms.

Wendy added: “We are always looking for good causes to support in our community and particularly those that help children and young people.

"We heard about the uniform shop and knew it was something we really wanted to support.

“The people there are so friendly and work so hard to help children have proper uniforms at school.

"We hope the clothes we’ve donated will make a big difference.”

This month, volunteers at two borough food banks said they had been struggling to keep up with demand as the cost of living crisis forces more residents into poverty.

Trinity Foodbank on Westminster Avenue in Radcliffe and Brandlesholme Community Foodbank on Brandlesholme Road both reported an increase in demand coupled with a sharp decrease in donations.

At the start of the month, Tina Harrison MBE, volunteer lead for Trinity Foodbank, said: “We’re surviving, but we are finding we’re getting more and more referrals.

“A lot of these referrals are self-referrals from people that are working that are working and that are really, really struggling at this time to pay their private rents and their mortgages.”