Second hand uniform shop 'invaluable' for Forest of Dean parents

The shop operating out of a shipping container

A new shop selling second hand school uniforms for children in the Forest of Dean has opened in an effort to save money and help the environment.

Newnham St Peters C Of E Primary School pre-loved uniform shop has opened thanks to the efforts of fundraisers and donations.

Modcon cabins in Lydney gave fundraisers a 50% discount so they could buy their shop premises.

It is estimated that 1.4m items of school uniform are thrown away each year in the UK.

PE kits and shoes are available to buy as well as traditional uniforms.

The school community has been raising money in a number of different ways from a sponsored litter pick and environmental bingo competition, to piles of uniform folded, washed and sorted by parents.

Sian Murray, a mother of five children, has described the shop as "invaluable".

"I must of saved hundreds and hundreds of pounds [over the years] we're all trying to save where we can and budget appropriately and save for Christmas so if we can make some kind of difference it's very helpful," Ms Murray said.

Some items are sold for as little as 50p.

The shop is opened by volunteers every Monday morning but will also advertise additional opening times to other schools across the Forest.

The school community has been raising money in a number of different ways from a sponsored litter pick and environmental bingo competition, to piles of uniform folded, washed and sorted by parents.

Headteacher of Newnham St Peters C Of E Primary School, Aga Przybylska said a lot of the pupils 'think very carefully' about "the future".

"It's not just reusing and recycling the uniforms, it's also about encouraging courageous advocacy," Ms Przybylska said.

She adding that "we want our children to stand up against general waste and make changes for the future they would like to have".

Elsie is in year six and has had uniforms from the pre-loved shop.

"It's like a circle, you can buy some clothes and if you grow out of them you can give them to the pre-loved hut and someone else can use them and then it can keep just going round and round so everyone gets a go," Elsie said.