Employees at East Yorkshire-based broadband provider KCOM and their bosses have boosted a charity providing school uniform for families throughout Hull who can’t afford it.
Employees set up a Just Giving Page earlier this year and raised £680 for Re:Uniform, and the company agreed to donate a further £1,000 which will now be used to buy new items of uniform and much needed storage facilities for the charity based at Hull’s Trinity Methodist Church.
Neil Bartholomew, MD KCOM Retail, said: “With the cost of living crisis affecting so many people across our area, the added pressure of buying new school uniform would have made life extremely difficult for a lot of families.
“That’s why our staff wanted to do what they could to help by starting a Just Giving page. As a business that committed to the communities we serve, we were delighted to match fund what our people raised and we hope the final donation will help support those families and children who needed a helping hand.”
Re:Uniform coordinator Susie Steel said the donation would make a big difference to the charity and the families it helps. She said: “This is the biggest donation we’ve ever had and it will be a game changer for us. It will enable us to do so much more.
“Re:Uniform is here for anyone with a HU postcode and this money will help us fill in some of the gaps we have – usually for bigger children’s sizes – where we haven’t had anything donated that fits the bill and we’ve had to turn people away.
“Now we’ll be able to buy new uniform and we’ll be able to buy some storage that will help us organise better.”
In the busy weeks before the start of the autumn term the charity was distributing thousands of bags of quality donated uniform to children attending schools around the region. And even as schools head towards half-term the need for uniform among many families remains pressing.
The volunteer-run charity, which supports youngsters attending any schools with a Hull postcode, has collection points around the region including Morrisons in Anlaby and Holderness Road, Co-Op in Cottingham, Hall Road Tesco, and Sainsbury’s in Hessle.
Emma Hardy, MP for Hull West and Hessle, who helped found the charity after hearing stories of mothers skipping meals to pay for school uniform and has been an active campaigner for change ever since, said: “The cost of living continues to bring hardship for a lot of people and parents having to find the extra cash for uniform can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. The Re:Uniform project does a brilliant job help people when they have nowhere left to turn. The donation from KCOM is hugely welcome and will make a real difference.”
