Sponsor-A-Child

And buy a Uniform Pack for a child in West Lothian. Your support will help a child feel confident and able to focus on their learning rather than worrying about what they are wearing.

Donate to The School Bank

Wrap your arms around the children of West Lothian this winter and help provide the warmth they need to succeed in school!

Our Winter Clothing Appeal is now open

Our Winter Clothing Appeal runs between October to December. As a sponsor, you are matched directly with a young person and are given the age, size, and gender of the child.

You then decide how much you want to spend and purchase a jacket. We prefer to give jackets that are dark and neutral in colour as they have a general appeal to young people and don’t require as much washing by the family. Along with jackets, we frequently receive requests for brand-new cosy socks, tights, hoodies, gloves, and hats.

Our feedback from referrers has commented on the positive difference a warm jacket makes to the children, especially in winter.

Many young people come to school wearing inappropriate clothing for the cold weather and a warm jacket allows them the opportunity to play outside in comfort.

A donation of a warm hat/gloves, cosy socks and hoodies are also greatly appreciated.

Our winter clothing appeal has been a great initiative for the charity and we have been very grateful for the generosity of the community.

In 2023, we received 312 winter clothing packs, totaling over £18,000.

For quick access to our Winter Clothing appeal form please scan this QR code

Click the button for quick access to our Winter Clothing appeal form

Appeal Form

A message from Jasmine (previous Board Member)

This is the difference your support can make

Wow. Just wow. I’m genuinely lost for words and have never seen my son and daughter so excited about school uniform before. Just receiving the bag of stuff ignited a liveliness in them that’s been absent for many recent months.

It always seems that teenagers get lost and forgotten about within donations and it means so much to us that consideration was given to them and not only that but that they received branded items.

Oh my life. Thank you thank you thank you. It could not have come at a better time and I hope the places that help out like this realise the difference that they make to people’s lives.

Our Summer School Uniform Donation Appeal is closed

The summer School Uniform Donation appeal is our flagship campaign that runs from May to August every year. We ask the public to help by donating a uniform pack (typically 3-6 items) for a child. This means the child can look forward to going back to school and allows them to feel included in their school community.

The response we have received from the public for this campaign has been truly heart-warming. In 2023, we received 242 sponsors, which equated to almost £29,000 in donated uniform. We provided 960 uniform packs for young people returning to school in August 2023 and we couldn’t have managed to do this mammoth task without the generosity and kindness of every single person and organisation who supported us over the summer period. Thank you!

How Sponsor-A-Child works

Sponsoring a child gives you the opportunity to purchase a school uniform for a local child in need. The sponsoring process is simple and straightforward.

simply register through the link in the pinned post on our Facebook page or contact us by email at admin@schoolbank-westlothian.org
we then match you with a young person and giving you details of their sex, sizes required and a list of items needed
you do the shopping, working to a budget that suits you
you drop off the items to us
uniform packs are passed directly to referrers who gives the child/family the uniform pack

You can sponsor a child as an individual or even share the cost with friends, family or a team of work colleagues.

What is sponsor a child?

Sponsor a child is an opportunity to support a local child in need by providing us with a school uniform that we then pass on to a child who has been referred to us.

How does it work?

We receive referrals from various organisations, including Schools, Social Work, Womens Aid, Advice Shop, etc. on behalf of the children and families in need of our support.

We match the sponsor to one of the young people referred to us and provide the sponsor with the age, size requirements and sex of the child. The sponsor then does the shopping and donates the required school items to us, so that we can pass them on directly to the family.

What kind of items do you need?

Every referral pack is different although most packs include skirts/trousers, polo shirts/shirts, a jacket, PE kit and footwear.

Do I have to buy it all?

No, not at all. We will provide you with details of what the child needs and you are welcome to provide all of the items or just a few – it is up to you! Please do not feel obliged to purchase everything on the list, we appreciate this is very costly.

We are grateful for all donations received. To spread the cost, you may want to think about sponsoring a child with family members or work colleagues.

Where do I drop the items off?

The items can be dropped off at our office during opening hours:

Dyrburgh House, Kirkton Campus, 3 Meikle Road, Livingston EH54 7DE.

We also have a small number of secure drop off points in the community although please let us know if you plan to drop off a uniform pack into a community collection point.

Where should I buy the clothes from?

Anywhere you want! Asda, Tesco, Sainsburys, Primark all have low cost items that can be bought locally. Online can be a great option as a fuller range of stock can be obtained. Remember to use Easyfundraising to help raise more funds for us!

How quickly do I have to provide the items?

Once you have been allocated a child to sponsor we ask if you could get the items to us within 4-6 weeks if possible. The summer is our busiest period of the year and we aim to get uniform packs to the child and family well before schools return. If you are having difficulty meeting this time frame, please get in touch.

What happens if I can’t get all the items?

Don’t worry! Just get what you can and we will provide the rest. Sometimes ordering online can be an easier option, as the shops don’t always have the sizes in stock.

I still have more questions who do I contact?

Please contact our admin team by email at admin@schoolbank-westlothian.org