Uniforms for those in need
Slough: Woman is supporting struggling families
A Slough woman is helping struggling families with the cost of living crisis by offering second-hand school uniforms via a dedicated shop in the town centre.
Shannel Joseph opened the temporary store, Uniform Express, on Monday inside the Queensmere Observatory shopping centre, opposite Shoe Zone.
She receives ties, blazers and shirts donated from parents and schools and sells them for low prices to help people at a time when money is tight.
Shannel told the Express that, as a mother herself, she knows how expensive buying school uniforms can be when children frequently grow out of their clothes.
“One day I got my son a blazer and he was growing, and I said to him: ‘I wish there was a second-hand shop because you are going to grow again’,” she said.
“I had the idea quite a few years ago because I just knew how expensive it [buying uniforms] was.”
Shannel added: “I kind of jumped on the idea and went to schools to find out if they were doing it, and they were not.
“Clothes were going to landfill and I didn’t support that because I am a supporter of the environment.”
She approached independent Slough councillor for Foxborough, Madhuri Bedhi, as well as British Land – the developers behind the Queensmere regeneration - for help to secure a shop unit there.
Shannel’s shop offers clothing for a range of Slough schools, and she intends to keep it open until the end of the summer school holidays.
However, if demand is still there, she may look to keep business going for longer.
“It seems to have got around, people have come in and said: ‘well done, we really needed this,” Shannel added.
“I have had people coming in to donate and buy, it has been active throughout the day.
“Someone came in on Monday and said she would have gone to a shop and spent hundreds but she came in here and got such a massive price reduction.
“It helps the community out in such a positive way.”
Shannel said she is ‘always asking for more donations’ and would be giving the shop ‘more focus’ if it proves popular.