Let's make second-hand uniform the first choice in Leeds

In June 2020 we launched Leeds School Uniform Exchange - which aims to make school uniform reuse the norm right across Leeds.

With funding from Leeds City Council and Leeds Community Foundation, our aim is to make it as easy as possible for people across Leeds to find out about school uniform reuse schemes at their school or in their local community.

And where there are gaps, we want to help people to set up local schemes to make it as easy as possible for families to share surplus school uniform.

This isn't about us setting up a big uniform swapping project ourselves. It's about getting behind people already doing stuff and making sure people who could benefit know about what's going on near them.

It's also about learning from what works - and sharing that knowledge with people who are keen to set up projects themselves.

It's clear to us that this kind of thing works best at a local level. Sometimes a school is best placed to take it on - and then at other times it might be a group of parents - getting organised on WhatsApp or on Facebook.

Get involved

We have mapped all of the uniform exchange schemes we know about. Check the map on our dedicated website to see if there is one near you. Please do get in touch if there is a scheme we have missed.

If there is not currently a uniform reuse scheme in place at your school, we have developed some inspiration guides for setting up a Facebook/WhatsApp group or a full redistribution scheme.

Join our Facebook group to keep in touch with people who are interested in the project.

We're very grateful for the financial support this project has received from Leeds City Council and Leeds Community Foundation. But we'd still welcome other support - including funding and sponsorship. And in-kind support would be really useful too.

We're really keen on this project because it can bring social as well as environmental benefits - helping to tackle waste, whilst also offering support to families who need a bit of help.

And we're confident that together we can make school uniform reuse an everyday, normal, easy thing to do in Leeds!