'Dire need' for clothes bank in County Durham

Clothes were piled high; from baby rombers to adult overcoats. All had been donated by people in the North East, for those less fortunate than themselves.

Today saw the opening of the County Durham Socialist Clothes Bank in the village of Brandon.

The service will be available to anyone on benefits. It is the brainchild of Dawn Wilson, who says she was prompted by an overheard conversation in a shoe shop between a mother and child. The mother, says Dawn, told her son they could only afford shoes for his sister this year.

Dawn claims some families on low incomes cannot stretch to buying from charity shops, since some have been rebranded as trendy 'vintage' shops.

She says Government welfare reforms are contributing to hardship.

Dawn Wilson says the project is not political. It is though, supported by a number of trade unions.

That has led one North East Conservative MP to question the timing of its launch.

The clothes bank will operate alongside a well established food bank; one of twenty two run by Durham Christian Partnership across County Durham. Its co-ordinator believes the two projects can work hand in hand.

The County Durham Socialist Clothes Bank will initially open on the last Tuesday of every month at Brandon Welfare Hall.

The aim is to extend the service in the future.