A CHILDREN’S charity which offers help with the cost of buying school uniforms has been ‘inundated’ with requests running into thousands of pounds.
Variety, the Children’s Charity team member Glen Hamel said they could not meet the extra demand this year and they would not be able to help everyone who applied.
Mr Hamel said: ‘In the last few weeks we’ve been inundated with requests for school uniforms – up to £3,000 worth. We can’t help everyone, so we have to assess them on a case-by-case basis.’
He added that the demand for help had risen at a time when the charity had seen a decline in public donations, which Mr Hamel said he believed was down to the spiralling cost of living.
He said: ‘We can see a decline in donations already and people are buying one ticket rather than the usual two or three for our annual draw, which is our biggest fundraiser.
‘Our overall income will go down in future, so we’ve got to be cautious as a charity that our money doesn’t run out.’
Fellow charity member Chris Robin said: ‘Funds are overstretched at the moment and the worrying thing is for the future.
‘We are asked for help to buy uniforms at the start of every term.
‘This is our busiest time but we’ve got to keep some reserves for after Christmas.’
The charity also buys presents for children from disadvantaged backgrounds over the Christmas period.
He added: ‘We don’t want to see any child go without, but we can’t help everyone who needs it now.’
