Mum fills her home with used school uniform to give away for free
A mum has filled her home with used school uniform to give it to families in need.
Kristina Murphy has collected the uniform from lost property boxes at nearby schools, so she can give it away for free.
Having worked as a senior leader in schools and volunteered as a governor, she realised there was a desperate need for uniforms.
So she launched the Rubery Schools Community Swop Shop - and was overwhelmed by the response she received.
"I found that when children don't have the correct uniform and equipment, things can escalate from there," Kristina said. "Being anxious about uniform then [being] told off by your teacher can start a negative spiral.
"Parents told us how their children had been bullied because they had holes in their jumpers or their bags had been ripped and they couldn't afford new ones," she added.
Kristina began in November 2018 by contacting schools to see if she could collect uniform from their lost property bins.
She then washed it and posted Facebook photos of the items she had so that people could request the items they needed.
"I was worried I might end up with lots of uniform and no requests but that hasn't been the case at all," she said.
By December, Kristina's bedroom was so full of uniform that she had to start sleeping on the sofa in the living room.
"It just grew and grew," she said.
Many people have been really moved by Kristina's mission and offered to help, from washing clothes to making financial donations for new uniform.
"One person got in touch to say he would happily pay for uniform for a family if we didn't have used uniform available. He was able to help a family in need and they were really glad of it,' she said.
Kristina says she knows that the demand for the Swop Shop will continue to grow but, in order to do that, she will need a premises and some kind of income.
She makes no charges for any of the uniform she gives away, and she works on the swap shop on a full-time voluntary basis.
"I would not have been able to do this whilst working 50 hours at a school but there is only a finite time we can live without me having an income so I need to see if there is a way I could make it so I could pay myself but I'm not sure how that would happen," she added.
Anyone wanting to request or donate uniform can find out more on the website here: https://www.ruberyswopshop.co.uk/.
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