Charities distributing free school uniform have reported sharply rising demand in the run-up to the new academic year, as a statutory cap on branded items prepares to take effect in England on 1 September.
Among them is Doreen's Hull, a registered charity that collects donated uniform and gives it to families across Hull and East Yorkshire at no cost. Charity Commission records list school uniform alongside food parcels, clothes, toys and household items among the goods it distributes to vulnerable people in the city.
The charity, registered as number 1209288, was established in 2023 and is run by a mother-and-daughter team, Sue and Ashleigh. Its name stands for Delivering our Range of Everyday Essential Needs, and honours Sue's mother. Sue has worked with children at a local primary school for more than 20 years. The charity describes its uniform model as a turn-up-and-take giveaway of good-quality used items.
Its accounts for the year ending 31 December 2025 record income of £34,808 and expenditure of £29,752, with four trustees and three volunteers. Last August it ran a pre-loved uniform pop-up in the charity zone at St Stephen's Shopping Centre in Hull, in partnership with the HEY Smile Foundation, offering donations gathered from schools across Hull and the East Riding.
Similar schemes elsewhere have logged steep year-on-year increases. Level Trust's Uniform Exchange in Luton provided uniform to 7,203 children last year and expects to pass 10,000 this year. Telford Crisis Support, which began its scheme in 2019 with 125 requests in its first year, has handled about 320 requests in August alone. Uniform Exchange in Kirklees helped 13,000 children in 2025 — around a fifth of the school-age population in the area — distributing an estimated 110,000 items. In Leicester, more than 1,500 children received free uniform from a pop-up funded with £50,000 of city council anti-poverty money. The Teesside Charity launched a match-funded uniform pledge on 20 August.
"If somebody can't afford food they might not be able to afford other items like uniform," said Erin Aston, coordinator at Telford Crisis Support.
The pressure is acute in Hull. Public health data show 33.2% of under-16s in the city lived in absolute low-income families in 2023/24, against 19.1% for England, while more than a third of schoolchildren were eligible for free school meals in 2024/25.
Hull City Council raised its school uniform grant from £40 to £50 last September, covering about 1,400 Year 7 pupils. Council leader Cllr Mike Ross acknowledged at the time that "£50 won't cover every item of uniform" and pressed the government for more. Labour's Cllr Jessica Raspin has called for £100-a-year grants for families on benefits. Nationally, research by Money Wellness found only 22 of 153 English local education authorities offered a dedicated uniform grant.
From September, section 35 of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 limits schools to requiring no more than three branded items a year for primary pupils, and three for secondary pupils — or four where one is a tie. The Department for Education says the change will benefit around 4.2 million children across 8,000 schools and save families an estimated £73 million a year. Education analysts note that donated or loaned branded items still count towards the limit, though schools may continue to offer extra branded items on an optional basis.
Government figures put uniform costs at just over £340 for primary and around £454 for secondary. A 2023 Children's Society poll of 2,000 parents gave lower figures of £287 and £422. Parentkind research last year found 30% of parents had gone without food or heating to afford uniform and 45% had used credit cards.
Charities have disputed the department's estimate of £50 in savings per child. The Schoolwear Association has argued that not all uniform is replaced annually and that specialist shops offer good value.
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