A PROGRAMME to provide £100,000 of free school uniforms will be helping children at Bradford schools, ensuring no child misses out on vital lessons because they don't have the correct uniform.

Provident Financial Group (PFG) and School-Home Support have announced the formal launch of a programme to provide free school uniforms.

Distributed with the help of School-Home Support (SHS) and Dixons Academies Trust, uniforms provided by the £100,000 scheme will support pupils across Bradford, Liverpool, Manchester, and Blackpool.

The work has been ongoing throughout the summer to get uniforms to pupils in time for the autumn term.

The programme is expected to benefit more than 1,000 pupils. It is supplying anything deemed an essential item of clothing for a child to attend school, including school uniforms, shoes, coats, underwear, and PE kits.

Working in partnership with PFG, SHS – a charity that helps maximise children’s education opportunities – has launched a dedicated School Uniforms Fund to distribute uniforms to those children who need support. This is available to SHS practitioners in the North and North-West and allows them to provide clothing needed for school to the families they support.

As part of this project, Dixons Academies Trust, a 15-school strong multi-academy trust across West Yorkshire and the Northwest, will distribute school uniforms to pupils in need on an ad-hoc basis, administered via a voucher system.

Malcolm Le May, Chief Executive Officer, PFG, said: “We understand that every child deserves the best possible start in life and access to education to push that forward. No one can get a good start if they can’t afford a school uniform. With the help of School-Home Support and Dixons Academies Trust, we hope this project can make a real difference.

“After the disruption of Covid and the growing impact of the cost of living, we cannot let anything else interfere with children’s education and leave families in need with nowhere to turn.”

Jaine Stannard, Chief Executive, School-Home Support, said: “We are delighted to be working with Provident Financial to launch this new project. Amid a cost-of-living crisis, this opportunity couldn’t have come at a more critical time for the families we support.

“Not having a proper school uniform can stop a child from attending school and miss out on an education.

"We want to make a real difference to the families we support and make sure children get the start in life that they deserve.”

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