By Noah Roberts
A school uniform exchange project created by parent Rebecca Murphy has helped dozens of families living in the Bramley and Stanningley area.
If you have been to Bramley library and community hub in Hough Lane recently you may have noticed rails of children school uniforms in the entrance.
These pre-loved uniforms have been cleaned and repaired by local parents and are free to local families.
At the recent Saturday morning launch of the uniform exchange, families were greeted by friendly volunteers from the project who had a table set up inside the library with hot drinks and delicious freshly baked cakes for free.
The project was created by parent Rebecca Murphy, who is the secretary for Hollybush Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA).
When the PTA was formed a couple of years ago Rebecca suggested the idea of a local uniform exchange. The idea came to her after she had been unable to find any way locally of getting sustainable uniforms.
The uniform exchange project was born from her “vision of making life easier and cheaper for families in the local area whilst also improving sustainability.”
She said: “I had been running the exchange from my tiny back-to-back house for the last two years and just recently expanded this school year. We now have stock permanently in Bramley library along with a whole team of volunteers.
“We have a dedicated group of volunteers now who collect unwanted clothing which they boil wash, iron, and check for defects.
“Any clothing that needs a mend goes to the lovely people at elderly action craft group, they use their ample skills to sew hems, attach missing buttons, and other small repairs to ensure the enterprise is as eco friendly as possible.
“We then have another team that goes into the library regularly to give it a good tidy and ensure everything is neat. We have helped thousands of people and saved thousands of items from going to landfill. This really is a community project and I’m enormously grateful to everyone who has given up their time to get involved.”
The project has gone from strength to strength. It has its own Facebook group and it has recently expanded into Bramley Whole Foods at Bramley Shopping Centre, who have kindly given them space on the shop floor and a storage space for free.
People can now find rails there all the time with clothes available. Rebecca is looking to the future with hopes to register the clothing exchange as an official charity.
The clothing exchange accepts uniforms from all local schools as well as PE kit, footwear, coats, winter thermals, swimwear, lab coats, summer hats, hair accessories, and anything else the children may need to excel at school from age three to adult.
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