A uniform exchange programme in Omagh has seen demand for its service triple compared to this time a year ago.
The price of buying school uniforms has become a hot topic among parents who have to fork out for their various items every year.
The Omagh Uniform Exchange in the Co Tyrone town was set up last year to give families a more affordable way of getting their kids kitted out for the new school year.
Volunteers Cathy McNamee and Dawn Little were ably assisted by a number of fellow volunteers throughout the popular exchange programme, which was hosted at St Joseph’s Hall in Drumragh.
The programme had 650 orders in 2020, while the number was treble that in 2021.
Cathy told MyTyrone: “It was absolutely crazy busy so it was. The range of people we had coming to the exchange was everybody and anybody.
“People are coming to exchange and bringing in something, and sometimes it's not due to any financial need.
“But then you do have the ones where the uniform grants haven't come through and there's been delays there.
“You have other people who have never accessed benefits before and lockdown has not been kind to them and they don't have the money for uniforms."
In order to make the exchange a viable option for as many people as possible, Cathy added it needed to in place for every school and community.
She said: "We thought it might be hard to get people behind us, but it wasn't.
"One of the reasons is we took the all-or-nothing approach. If we were going to do it it had to be every school, and it had to be cross-community.
"The other thing that did work for us is the fact that we were based in a neutral venue away from schools.
"A lot of parents appreciate the anonymity of not having to go to the school."
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