VIDEO: All you need to know about the new Uniform Project in Morecambe

The Uniform Project, launched by Morecambe Bay Foodbank, is due to open fully next month.Based at The Community Hub, in Euston Road, the project will offer a “donate what you can afford” second hand uniform service to hard up parents, who, say foodbank manager Annette Smith, often have to choose between eating and clothing their children.The Uniform Project offers school uniform of all kinds and for all ages. All families are welcome to take what they can use so that uniform gets reused for longer and is kept out of landfill.The project was launched on July 5 by singer songwriter Frank Turner - who was in the area to perform at the Lancaster Town Hall in aid of the foodbank - as well as deputy Mayor Alan Biddulph and Coun Colin Hartley. Also in attendance were volunteers and trustees from the project, pupils from West End School and Morecambe Bay School and supporters of the project including Johnson’s Apparelmaster, Standfast Barracks, Sainsburys, Asda, staff from the town halls where donation points are located, Morecambe BID, and the Lancaster District Chamber of Commerce. The Foodbank has been collecting donations of uniform from across the district and now has a large stock of items ready for distribution. They hope to continue to take in donations from schools and families through a series of uniform drives over the coming year. Foodbank manager Annette Smith said: “We know that some families struggle with the cost of school uniform. By opening The Uniform Project we hope to help children start school looking smart and ready to learn, and we also want to give more life to clothes so they can be reused.”“Everyone is welcome to use this new community resource and we hope it will help us to raise much needed funds for the Foodbank.”Staffed by volunteers, The Uniform Project will operate on a ‘take what you need’ basis and families are invited to make a donation of whatever they can afford. The shop will also take in donations of gently used school uniform of all types including winter coats, shoes and sports kit. Frank Turner, who is brother of the Foodbank’s Chair of Trustees, Joanna Young, said: “It’s a real pleasure to come back to Morecambe and see the important work that the Foodbank does in this community. I am really happy to support such a great initiative and we are looking forward to a really fun show tonight!”The Uniform Project is hoping to be open several days a week and is still in need of some volunteers to help staff the shop, particularly on a Monday and Friday morning and Wednesday afternoons.To find out more about the project and volunteering opportunities, contact the Foodbank at [email protected], or via the website at www.morecambebay.foodbank.org.uk or on Facebook at @theuniformproject.