WHILE education is far from the thoughts of children during the summer holidays, an important school initiative will be taking place in Denbighshire.

A pilot school uniform recycling exchange in Denbigh in the last three years has proved so successful that the scheme, organised by Citizens Advice Denbighshire (CAD) and backed by Denbighshire County Council, is now being rolled out in Rhyl and Ruthin.

The recycle scheme allows parents to access affordable, high quality school uniforms in their community.

Uniforms are collected from schools before the end of the summer term and are washed and pressed before they are made available to the public.

It is beleived the pilot project is the largest of its kind in Wales.

The most recent sale, back in August 2017, saw over 200 customers going along to the pop-up shop to buy school uniforms.

CAD also provides further support around benefits take up, free school meals eligibility and issues around Universal Credit.

A pop-up shop will be in the marketplace at Denbigh Town Hall between July 30 and August 3 (10am-2pm).

In addition, a further pop-up shop will take place at 15 Well Street, Ruthin from August 6-10 (12-2pm).

Lesley Powell, chief executive of Citizens Advice Denbighshire, said: “This scheme brings together parents, children, schools, staff and volunteers of Citizens Advice, town and county councils and local businesses; it is provided by the community for the benefit of the community.

"We'll be offering families a 'financial health check' if people want to make sure they are receiving all their benefit and credit entitlements.

"We would like to thank Denbigh Town Council and Denbigh Rotary Club for their funding and Lock Stock Self storage for helping us to store and transport the uniforms.”

The schools in and around Denbigh taking part in the initiative are Ysgol Frongoch, Ysgol Twm o'r Nant, Ysgol y Parc, Ysgol Trefnant, Ysgol Henllan, Ysgol Pendref, Denbigh High School and Ysgol Glan Clwyd.

Meanwhile, Ruthin schools taking part are Ysgol Borthyn, Ysgol Pen Barras, Rhos Street School and Ysgol Brynhyfryd.

Cllr Huw Hilditch-Roberts, cabinet lead member for children, young people, education and the Welsh Language, said: “Denbighshire is delighted to be working in partnership with Citizens Advice Denbighshire on this innovative approach.

"It has been hugely successful due to the commitment of volunteers and the generosity of people in providing school uniforms.

"Buying school uniforms can prove costly to a lot of families and many people have now been able to buy uniforms at affordable prices without having to break the bank.

“We are looking forward to monitoring the success of this year’s initiative, with a view to rolling the scheme out to other communities in Denbighshire in the future.”