Social Flock is a community clothing charity. We aim to mitigate the impact of poverty and reduce our community’s reliance on fast fashion by providing FREE clothing packs of pre-loved and new clothing.
What is in a Back to School Pack?
Our packs include 3 shirts, 2 bottoms, 2 jumpers/cardis, 2 PE t shirts, 2 PE bottoms, a PE jumper and a school bag. We also aim to include school shoes and/or trainers plus stationary and other back to school essentials like pack lunch boxes. Everything a child needs for taking part in their school journey.
Why do many days’ worth of clothing? Well, Child Poverty Action Group research found that some children were reporting that they were missing school because they only had one uniform, and it was in the wash. If we give more, we empower young people to engage more. Especially with the rising energy costs, families will not be able to wash uniform as frequently. We want to keep children dressed in clean, high quality pre-loved clothes, for as much of the week as possible.
Packs are personalised to each schools colours and the child’s style preferences (so you can tell us if they won’t wear shorts, or will only wear cardigans!) and their sensory needs to make sure the packs are made to suit the individual. We also ask for bag colours and characters and try our hardest to match up to their personal style. One child asked for a Frozen bag and we managed to get one for her, she put it on as soon as she got her pack and didn't want to take it off!
Who can apply?
We believe in making our projects as accessible as possible so if you live in Perth, attend a local Primary or High School, and wear clothing you can apply, and all applications are successful. This means anyone impacted by the Cost of Living Crisis, or interested in being more climate aware, can apply no matter their income.
Everyone is feeling the pinch right now and a pack of uniform really helps with 40% of carers saying their 2022 pack improved their mental health and over 50% stating it made their children excited to return to school.
Families can self-refer meaning no one else has to be involved in your application process. We share our links with local schools and nurseries to circulate and we're building more partnerships and direct links with schools all the time. We also have a list of great referral partners, like Perth and Kinross Foodbank and HomeStart.
Why is this important to our local community?
Environment and Fast Fashion - Approximately only 20% of all worldwide textiles used are recycled and the UK sends 350,000 tonnes of clothing to landfill each year. By passing on high quality pre-loved clothing and redistributing it to families who will continue to utilise it, we ensure clothes are being used to the end of their life. We know children grow quickly, and their clothes are often grown out of before the clothing is unwearable (although some uniform won’t survive the first term back!).
Poverty - We know that 1 in 3 households in Perth and Kinross are classed as struggling financially. As the Cost of Living crisis continues, this is unfortunately only expected to continue. 2600 children in Perth and Kinross are classed as living in very deep poverty. The Perth City locality has the highest number of children living in relative poverty. feedback from our service users highlights that our service allows them to redirect their household budget to urgent bills and other unavoidable expenses, with 67% of feedback participants stating receiving our free clothing allowed them to re-prioritise their financial needs and 78% saying it reduced their stress. What more could we ask for?
By redistributing School Uniform, we can ensure all children can return to school feeling positive and matching their peers. How children feel in their clothes will have a dramatic impact on their school experience, their ability to learn and improve their future prospects. We know there is enough pre-loved clothing to support our local children to engage and build a bright and successful future!
How do we know this is something our community wants and needs?
2024 will be our third year running our Back to School Pack. In 2021 we provided 152 packs, in 2022 - 340 and in 2023 we reached our 400 application limit before the school holidays had ended.
We know we will continue to watch our application numbers skyrocket as poverty in our local population continues to increase, and as awareness of the impact on our environment that clothing purchases continues to be focussed on in schools and by us.
In 2024 in order to continue to meet the needs of our community we need staff who can work alongside our tireless, amazing, volunteers to organise donations, make up packs and deliver them to our local children in time for them to go back to school in August.
SO IF YOU THINK THAT...
- All children should have access to high quality school uniform?
- We should protect our environment and make positive pre-loved clothing choices?
- By making little changes to our own lifestyle to support others we can make big changes for the future of our children?
Then please support us by voting for our Back to School Pack project.
Thank you.
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