Mum-of-one Amy Cook doesn’t know how she’ll be able to afford school uniform for her daughter before September.
The worried parent, 28, from London, says it’ll cost around £300 to buy everything Shauna, eight, needs to go back to school.
A new school uniform law - designed to help lower costs by removing unnecessary branding - comes into effect next month.
However, schools that need to secure a new contract with a supplier have until December 2022 to put that in place - meaning some families will miss out on cheaper costs before the new term.
Amy has so far relied on free clothes from apps like Olio to help her fund back to school costs.
Olio is an app that lets you share things in your community for free.
Amy has already received polo shirts and dresses for Shauna - but says she may end up relying on charity shops to fund everything else she needs.
“She still needs school shoes, a new coat, new bag, tights… I estimate a full school uniform would normally cost around £300," she told The Mirror.
Like other families across the UK, Amy is feeling the squeeze from the ever-deepening cost of living crisis.
Amy, who claims benefits and is a carer for her husband, says she has already had to ask for a fuel voucher from SSE.
She has also seen her food bill triple this year - piling more pressure on her household.
“Our food bill has tripled. I’m going to food banks,“ she explained.
“I don’t go to supermarkets. I was paying £200 to £300 for my food bill - I'm now paying £400 to £700.
“Shauna can't eat dairy so this makes it more expensive.
“My choice is either food, gas and electricity, or I pay for school uniform. I’ll have to see what I can do.”
New research from Olio shows two thirds (62%) of UK parents admit they are worried about the rising costs of back-to-school season.
Olio claims buying new items post-summer is set to cost an average of almost £300 per child.
Parents estimate they purchase 16 brand new items for their children at the start of the school year, throwing away an average of 13 items – despite admitting that the majority of these are still in a perfectly useable condition.
Tessa Clarke, co-founder and CEO of Olio, is asking parents to think twice when they do their back-to-school clear-out and consider how they can help others by sharing their spare.
She said: “As a parent, I know the back-to school drill all too well.
“It’s crazy to think that so many perfectly useable items are being thrown away each year when they could easily find a new home – especially when we are in the midst of one of the biggest cost of living crises we’ve ever seen.”
Helen Wilkinson, 40, a mum-of-three from Dudley, has been volunteering with Olio since September last year.
"I've always been the sort of person who doesn't like waste. I've got three kids under five and I know how expensive they can be," she told The Mirror.
"Kids grow so quickly and often there is nothing wrong with the uniform."
