A series of children’s centres uniform swap shops held over the summer have been hailed as a great success.

Three dedicated uniform swap shops took place in Runcorn during August at Halton Lodge Children’s Centre.

The shops saw a huge amount of uniforms donated and were kindly given brand new school coats from social enterprise Sew Halton.

With the support of children’s centre volunteer in Runcorn, Terry, who washed and sorted the uniforms into sizes, along with Gemma, anEarly Help Officer, and other centre staff they were able to present the clothes in order to make the experience easy on the day.

Claire Hunter, principal manager for children's centres, said: "Terry has been amazing and without her help we would not have had such successful events."

A professionals' session helped 36 children, and two further public sessions helped another 57 children under the age of 16.

Over the two days the vast majority of the attendees were visiting a children’s centre for the first time.

There was a large turnout of Syrian families - one of which had only arrived in the country two days earlier.

All uniforms donated to the Children’s Centres in Widnes were distributed to the food banks across the area.

The children's centres in Runcorn and Widnes will continue from September to offer the swap shop for general clothes and equipment to professional and families.

Cllr Tom McInerney, Halton council's executive board member for education and social care, said: "A total of 91 children had help with uniforms including shoes and PE kits.

"This is a fantastic effort and I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in this.

"Many thanks for all the kind donations received, for which the families were very grateful."