Plastic Free Hitchin has teamed up with a number of Hitchin schools for another pop-up pre-loved uniform shop this summer.

The event will be held at Hitchin Boys School on Saturday 2nd September from 930am – 130pm, helping families to pick up uniform items ready for the start of the new term. The participating schools will sell unbranded items, which are suitable for many local primary schools, as well as their own logo uniform.

We will also be joined by Coats 4 Kids, a local project that offers free, preloved winter coats for children. As well as having a range of coats available, they will also be accepting donations of clean, good quality children's coats.

The first preloved uniform pop-up shop last year was a huge success – re-using 1040 items of school uniform and raising almost £1,400 across the schools taking part.  This year's events are already proving just as successful, with over 600 items reused from the first event held in July.

A recent survey by the Children's Society found that parents spend on average £422 a year on secondary and £287 on primary uniforms. Preloved uniform at the sale will cost from as little as 50p per item.

A survey in 2022 found that up to 1.4 million pieces of school uniform, many of which could be reused, are thrown away every year in the UK. We hope to reach a total of over 1000 items reused across the preloved uniform events this summer in Hitchin.

Karen Grant from the Friends of Whitehill and Highbury Schools said, "We're really proud to be involved in this initiative again, working with other Hitchin schools and Plastic Free Hitchin. It's a great way to enable families to get the uniform they need cheaply and to prevent clothing from ending up in landfill." 

Abigail Cuthbertson from Plastic Free Hitchin said, "We're so excited to bring so many schools together again, and to expand on the strong culture of reuse in Hitchin."

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