School uniform

Parents in East Yorkshire are being urged to recycle more school uniform - after a new report found that 100,000 items of clothing are binned in Yorkshire every year.

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Demand for second-hand clothing is high, according to East Yorkshire charity Re:Uniform - which says it helped more than 600 families last year alone.

The new report, by label manufacturer My Nametags, found extending a garment's lifespan by just three months could help reduce people's carbon and waste footprints.

Suzie Steel, from Re:Uniform, said: "We had over 600 families come to get uniform and they're desperate their child is not singled out because they don't have the right uniform.

"They're worried their child is going to get punished - put in isolation - because they cannot afford the correct uniform. So they're turning to us to see if we can offer them the right piece of uniform for their child."

Hull West and Hessle Labour MP Emma Hardy has given her support to a bill due to go before Parliament later today calling for changes to the cost of school uniform.

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Mike Amesbury MP is due to present the first reading of his Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Bill in the House of Commons later today.

The bill calls for guidance for schools about the cost aspects of school uniform policies.

In 2018, a Children's Society report found parents were spending £340 per year on school uniform costs for each secondary school child and £255 per year for each primary school child.

Ms Hardy said: "When I was teaching, children looked perfectly smart in uniform you could buy from the supermarket or the local high street.

"But this need suddenly to have the school logo on a blazer, on their socks, on their PE kit, on their trousers, it's just excessive. It's a completely unnecessary cost."