Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Church’s free school uniform scheme helps Angus parents cut cost of clothing children

Dorothy Bruce and Ann Menmuir, front, mend uniforms ahead of the opening of Forfar's pop-up shop, aided by fellow volunteers Diane Robertson, Lynne Morrison and Muriel Drummond.
Dorothy Bruce and Ann Menmuir, front, mend uniforms ahead of the opening of Forfar's pop-up shop, aided by fellow volunteers Diane Robertson, Lynne Morrison and Muriel Drummond.

A free school uniform ‘pop-up’ shop designed to help Angus parents struggling to clothe their children has been extended to meet a growing demand.

The project, run by members of St Margaret’s Church in Forfar, is reaching further into the local community, offering a much needed boost to families trying to juggle rising household costs.

Initially set up for Forfar’s three primary schools, it now supplies new or nearly new clothes for pupils at Forfar Academy, Webster’s High School in Kirriemuir, and primary schools in Letham, Kirriemuir, Glamis and Inverarity.

Last year it handed out 2,000 items of clothing, with the ‘shop’ in the church hall now providing a full kit for primary and secondary pupils.

Organisers say they want to break down the stigma of relying on support during a difficult time, while backing people who want to recycle good clothing rather than send it to landfill.

The success of the Forfar project has now been replicated in Monifieth and there are plans for a similar project in Arbroath next year, a move welcomed by the Reverend Maggie Hunt of St Margaret’s.

She said: “The shop will run all next week and on the Monday and Tuesday before the schools go back.

“We ran for a week at the start of the summer holidays, and also opened up another shop during the Easter holidays.

“We have thousands of items, not just shirts, trousers, shorts, pinafore dresses, hats and scarves, but lunch boxes, juice bottles, everything needed to kit a child out for school.

“We also have winter coats, all of which are handed out free of charge.

“Most of it is good as new, which has been laundered, but there are some new, unworn items still with labels on.

“This is the fifth year we have run the shop. The good people of Forfar have taken this on as their own, they now see it as an eco project to not only save money but to save clothes going to landfill.”

Although the shop is a St Margaret’s Church initiative, you do not have to be a church member, Christian or have any faith to use it.

Rev Hunt welcomed similar projects now being set up adding: “I have been in touch with Monifieth Parish Church who are doing a pop up shop, and have been in touch with Martin Fair at St Andrew’s in Arbroath, so this is beginning to spread.”

The Angus schemes are part of a growing trend for school uniform swaps across the country.

John Dickie, director of Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, said it was great to see local communities finding ways to help reduce the cost of school clothing and encouraged parents to apply for the £100 school clothing grant available in Angus and elsewhere.

“There’s no question that far too many families are struggling on inadequate incomes, and the costs of school are a real pressure and stress for parents and children.” he said.

“The bottom line is that UK government social security cuts are driving increasing numbers of children in Angus and across the UK into poverty. If he is serious about supporting families the new Prime Minister needs to restore the value of child benefit and end the two child limit for universal credit.”

The Forfar shop will be open from 10am until noon on August 5 to 10 and again on August 12 and 13.

The shop at Monifieth Parish shop will also run next Monday to Friday, from 10am to noon and 2-4pm in the Gerrard Hall.