Smart Futures is a Community Interest Company with a difference, set up to increase the social inclusion of children across our borough living in poverty by providing school uniform packages.
Too often parents have to make difficult/impossible choices about what essentials to buy and clothing and school uniform can often be way down the list.
Imagine being the only child in the classroom not in uniform and the impact that has on your confidence.
Wearing the right school uniform is fundamental to the development of the individual child ensuring they are treated the same by their peers, ensures they feel a sense of belonging and pride in their appearance and reduces the likelihood of the child being bullied because they don’t have the ‘right’ clothing
Smart Futures CIC will ensure all children feel included by making sure every one of them has access to the appropriate uniform.
We do this by taking in donations of uniform collecting them from various drop off points around the borough. (Saving hundreds of items from going to landfill and reducing the sector’s carbon footprint)
We then wash/mend sort items as necessary to ensure they are saleable. They will then be put on sale in our shops, via our website and at pop up shops in the borough.
The money raised from the sale of the uniforms will then be used to provide full packages for children whose families can’t afford uniform. These families will be identified via schools and agencies working within the borough. We will provide packages to the school or agency to ensure anonymity for those families. (these won’t just be second-hand uniform but may include new items).
Establishing this as a CIC is a radical solution for the local community – an opportunity to train people in a variety of employment related and life skills within the workplace.
We envisage unlocking the potential of our local citizens supporting and training volunteers, adults with learning difficulties, care leavers, 14-16 yr old requiring more vocational training and potentially even more (we are identifying more needs daily).
Our ambitious and exciting project is promoting inclusivity whilst helping the most vulnerable in our communities which, in the current economic climate is more needed than ever.
With the added benefits of promoting sustainability and strengthening local enterprise our project has the potential to create real and lasting change for children and families within both Wigan and further afield.
