Crowdfunder aims to provide thousands of deprived children with waterproofs and wellies
Nicole Weinstein
Wednesday, November 11, 2020
A fundraising campaign hopes to tackle clothing poverty and enable primary school children to get outdoors more during the winter months of Covid.
The Outdoor Classroom Day movement, led in the UK and Ireland by Learning through Landscapes, with Semble, has launched a crowdfunder on social media to end child clothing poverty and make sure that every child gets outdoors, whatever the weather.
Research undertaken by Outdoor Classroom Day has shown that schools would go outdoors more if children had appropriate clothing. But, with 4.2 million children living in poverty and tight school budgets, parents and schools often cannot afford high-quality clothing to keep children warm and dry.
Carley Sefton, CEO at Learning through Landscapes, who leads the Outdoor Classroom Day movement in the UK and Ireland, said, ‘The only consistent thing about the British weather is its inconsistency. We are actually luckier than some when it comes to our climate – it’s pretty much safe to go outdoors all year round if we have the right clothing.
'But in our work with schools, we hear time and again that wet weather gear is out of reach for some parents. That’s why we’ve launched the Outdoor Classroom Day crowdfunder – to get at least 1,000 sets of wet weather gear into primary schools and to start the wider conversation about how we make high quality clothing accessible to all children.’
The aim of the crowdfunder is to help schools set up a clothing library so that the 1,000 sets of high-quality waterproof jackets, trousers and wellies can be used for as many as 5,000 children over five years.
To achieve this goal, they have partnered with Muddy Puddles, who are offering a 50 per cent discount on all clothing.
The money raised will create a fund that primary schools from across the whole of the UK can apply to. Priority will be given to schools located in areas of deprivation.
Organisations can donate £8 for a pair of wellies; £16 for a waterproof coat; £35 for head-to-toe waterproofs and up to £1,050 for head-to-toe waterproofs for an entire class of 30 children.
The target is to reach £35,000 by 30 December and so far £3,021 has been raised.
