Uptake for the Children’s Centre uniform exchange has been swift, according to the director of services Janet Bailey.

The school uniform exchange has been open to the public since the start of this week.

It is an initiative that was launched last summer due to spiralling costs, and provides second-hand uniforms free of charge to families who may be struggling.

Ms Bailey, director of services at the Children’s Centre said: ‘We started the uniform programme last year, and the reason behind that was because of the steep rise in the cost of living and because the fact that school uniforms are prohibitively expensive.

‘One of the things that we have also noticed is that buying things from charity shops has become much more expensive, so it was about being able to give a bit more back to those families who are struggling.

‘We are also very much an organisation around reuse, repurpose, recycle. We don’t want to be part of that throwaway culture, and some of the uniform that we have got is in pristine condition, some of that is brand new, so it is great to be able to give the uniforms a new home.

‘Last year, we did a big push for school uniform donations when we first launched the exchange programme and this year we still have had a really good haul of good quality items.

‘We collect the uniforms and we wash them, we get them so that they are in really good condition before they can go out.

Ms Bailey said that there are hundreds of items that range from ages four to 16, there are some branded items, but they are mostly unbranded.

She added: ‘We got to a point where we had enough uniforms and we needed to focus on getting them out to the families that needed them.’

Last year 150 uniform packs were given out to families, and so far this year, after the first two days of the scheme, 30 uniform packs had already been requested.

Those figures are on top of the families with whom the charity already works, and to whom it provides uniforms.

Families who want to access the uniform exchange, can contact the Children’s Centre through its website or Facebook, or they can call the team on 800000.

The charity will take requirements and put together uniform bundles, and deliver it, or parents can collect it from the centre.