September is coming up fast, and with it the last of the Household Support Fund which has been guaranteed by central government to Wokingham Borough Council. This funding is distributed via our Hardship Alliance partners to those who need it most. It funds emergency grants to those who can’t afford basic essentials such as food and heating. It also provides families who rely on free school meals during term time, with vouchers to help them feed their children in the school holidays.
We hope that the new government will replace the previous chaotic and piecemeal system of last-minute grant funding with stable and sustainable safety net. Wokingham Borough Council will be lobbying central government in the next few weeks for the Household Support Fund to be continued until a better and more permanent system can be put into place.
During these last few weeks of the school holidays, many parents will be worrying about how to meet the costs of a new term. Last year the Liberal Democrat administration put a £250,000 Hardship Fund aside to invest in long term solutions to fight poverty in Wokingham. A portion of this money has been invested in seed funding for two ‘School Days’ projects which are being delivered by our partner First Days to help families living on the lowest incomes afford the cost of the school day.
We are already seeing the first results. Part of the funding supported the First Days’ school uniform shops. During the month of June alone, these saved local parents an incredible £11,000 on the cost of kitting their children out for the new school year, largely through sales of high quality, pre-loved uniform.
But families don’t just have an issue with the costs of uniform, important though that is. Families in Wokingham are telling us that the costs of the school day as a whole are important. The costs of equipment needed to study a subject, educational trips, sports kit and study guides all add up.
This can lead to children from low income backgrounds being squeezed out of GCSE subjects and co-curricular activities which are important for a fully rounded education. Geography, sports, art and music, for example, all require kit, equipment or trips that many families struggle to afford. We don’t want Wokingham Borough children to be inadvertently excluded from studying a subject which will enrich their lives, improve their health, develop skills, and add to their CVs or further education applications.
First Days are therefore consulting with schools on how we address this as part of the council-funded Cost of the school day project. The outcome will be detailed guidance, a self assessment audit tool, and action planning guides for schools to use in a way which empowers and enriches them as they work to fully include all children, regardless of their parents’ economic status.
Wokingham Borough Council is ensuring that all the projects funded by the Hardship Fund are informed by data and that they deliver measured outcomes. I look forward to sharing the results of these projects as they start to deliver longer term benefits.
Other partners in the community are also supporting local children to enjoy their time at school. The Cowshed, for example, distributes school uniform to those who need it, and helps to ensure that all of our students can go to prom in the clothes which fit the occasion.
I would like to thank our partners in the council, in schools, and in the voluntary and community sector for everything that they are doing to support our students to fully participate in school life and to get the best possible education to set them up for the future.
Rachel Bishop-Firth is a Liberal Democrat Councillor for Emmbrook South
