The Kirklees Climate Commission will help Huddersfield-based Uniform Exchange assess the environmental benefits of its work to share unwanted school clothing with families across the district. 

Uniform Exchange founder Kate France discussed the charity's work at the Commission's October meeting, held at the University of Huddersfield. 

Established in 2011, Uniform Exchange now works with all 182 schools in Kirklees to redistribute more than 75,000 items of uniform. 

Last year, volunteers sorted more than 50 tonnes of donations totalling 180,000 individual items. Clothes in good condition are cleaned and redistributed to around 11,000 children in local schools, saving parents over £1 million a year. 

If donated clothes aren't in a good enough condition to be reused, they are shredded and recycled where possible. A small proportion can't be recycled and are incinerated as waste. 

As well as the financial benefits for hard-pressed families, Uniform Exchange's work saves energy and materials by allowing clothes to be used for longer, and reduces the amount going to waste. 

The Climate Commission will now work with the Uniform Exchange team to calculate the environmental benefits of their work, in terms of reduced emissions, water use and waste. Having reliable data on these benefits could help the charity raise more money from sustainability-focused sources of funding. 

"At Uniform Exchange, understanding our environmental impact is as important as tackling child poverty," says Kate. "We’ve always known the difference a school uniform can make to a child’s life: restoring dignity, equality and belonging. But every blazer, jumper and pair of shoes we reuse also carries a hidden story of environmental impact - fewer textiles in landfill, less energy and water wasted, and a community choosing sustainability over waste.

"Working with the Kirklees Climate Commission to measure our green footprint gives us the evidence to show what we’ve long believed, that social action and climate action go hand in hand. Every donation, every volunteer hour and every child helped is part of a bigger picture - a fairer, cleaner and more connected Kirklees."