As part of our 2021 UKFL preparations, we have decided on our charity partner for the year. As well as kicking off our campaign for signups to make this the best season ever!
First of all, if you haven’t signed up then you can do that here. If you aren’t sure if you did or not, then just add your name in! We remove duplicate entries, so you won’t lose anything by filling out the form.
But onto our other league news- our charity partner for 2021!
Charity Partner: First Days
For the UKFL 2021 charity partner, we wanted to find a smaller charity that we could really impact with raising funds. First days are a local charity to me (Richard). I’ve personally made donations to them (into their warehouse) and visited their store. It served as a meeting place for families that just needed a little bit of support.
COVID-19 has impacted plenty of people in different ways. This year, I think more than ever we have been forced to keep an eye on one another. Which has highlighted something that has been silent in our society- child poverty.
About First Days
They aim to reduce the long-term effect of poverty on children by equipping them with the essential items they need for their early years and at school.
They believe that all children deserve the same start in life
- Children should be safe in their home, and out about
- They should be confident in school
- Children should have lots of fun
They provide everyday essentials to families who need them by distributing school uniforms, new baby essentials, travel items, toiletries, safety equipment, furniture, toys and books.
How they fit into the bigger picture
4 million children in the UK are living in households whose income falls below the poverty line. This means that, after they’ve paid for their housing and utilities, they have just £19 per day to live on – for food, clothes, transport, birthdays and everything else they might need. At First Days we help families at a time of crisis – when they need something for their children and simply cannot afford it.
How you can help
There are a few ways. One is supporting the charity financially (if everyone that played donated £10 we’d raise over £2.5k for charity!), which you can do via our Just Giving link or alternatively (or both) you can help push their wider agenda.
If you aren’t sure how to do that, they are campaigning to #MakeUniformsAffordable. You can support them in less than 5 minutes (literally, I’ve timed it).
Sign Their Petition
Signing their petition takes you no time at all, and would help raise the issue to Parliament who could easily implement the changes (almost overnight)
You can do it here
Email Your Local MP
This might take you just beyond 5 minutes, but not by much. If you do this then you can really make a change.
Simply copy and paste the text below to your local MP. You can find your MP here
Hello
I am writing to you to ask you to back the campaign to #MakeUniformsAffordable.
Did you know that secondary school uniforms cost, on average, £316 per year, per child – every year and primary school uniforms cost, on average, £251 per year, per child – every year. At schools where there is no alternative to the high cost of Logo Only or single-supplier items this cost significantly increases – one school in Berkshire, where up to 1 in 4 children are living in poverty, charges £36 for two girls shirts. Also, VAT is charged on school uniforms in larger sizes.
I would like you to back the campaign to encourage all schools to sign up to the Affordable Uniforms Charter (more info on firstdays.net/affordable-uniforms) and also for the government to scrap VAT on all School Uniform, regardless of the size. There is a petition on change.org which I would be grateful if you could share.
There are 4.1 Million children living in poverty in the UK. Families who are living below the minimum income standard cannot afford school uniforms and are relying on charities and good-will to get their children prepared for school. This is not good enough. Schools and government need to take responsibility to ensure that ALL children have equal access to the things they need to make the most of their education.
Kind regards,
