RESEARCH from a survey we carried out found that many parents are struggling to afford school uniforms and can go without basic things like food in order to pay for them.

Drastic measures like not sending a child to school can occur because there is no money to pay for a uniform.

We wrote to the head teacher of every high school in Halton outlining our concerns about the spiralling cost of school uniforms.

We believe that schools can do more to ensure that uniform costs are not a burden for families in Halton.

We are calling on schools to update uniform price lists, publish them openly and regularly carry out supplier reviews.

Next time there is a uniform change we hope the cost is given serious consideration and suggest that the uniform becomes more generic and easier to buy.

An example of this would be to provide sew on badges and plain blazers, which can reduce the price.

Many supermarkets now provide generic uniform at a much lower cost than single specialist suppliers.

It seems that schools in Halton are not all taking advantage of this in their uniform policies.

We want schools to bear in mind colour schemes that can be provided by supermarkets to allow parents to find items at a more affordable cost.

We ask schools to promote the reuse and recycling of uniforms to help out the families in Halton.

We hope to be working with the community and voluntary sector in the coming months to promote the reuse and recycling of uniforms and would ask that every school supports this effort.

We believe that more must be done to help families afford the spiralling costs of education. We always welcome hearing the views of young people across Halton and can be contacted about this or any issue on enquiries@haltonyc.com.

Rhiannon Ratcliffe

Campaign lead

Halton Youth Cabinet