A school uniform recycling hub has been launched by local homelessness charity Emmaus Salford with support from Guinness Partnership and Sal’s Shoes.
The Emmaus Salford School Uniform Hub will collect and redistribute school uniforms and shoes to children living in Salford.
The hub aims to reduce the number of good quality clothes and shoes going to landfill, whilst providing items to families in need free of charge, and has been launched with initial funding from Guinness Partnership and support from local and national partners including Sal’s Shoes, SOCKSHOP and Tesco.
Emmaus Salford supports 22 formerly homeless people by providing a stable home, meaningful work and individual support for as long as they need it, and the new School Uniform Hub will be run by beneficiaries of the charity.
It will enable them to gain skills and experience whilst supporting local families in need.
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Speaking on the launch of the new hub, Rachel Richardson – Community Director at Emmaus Salford – said: “We are delighted to be launching our new School Uniform Hub in the summer holidays, ready for the new school year starting in September.”
“There are so many local families struggling to make ends meet and as kids outgrow their uniforms and shoes.”
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“Replacing these items can be expensive [but] our new hub will offer a range of new and used good quality items to families referred to us by Salford Citizen’s Advice Bureau and local schools.”
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Catriona Simons – Group Chief Executive of The Guinness Partnership – added: “So many families struggle to buy essentials such as children’s shoes and school uniforms, so we welcome the chance to partner with Sal’s Shoes and Emmaus to ensure that children don’t go without, and don’t feel self-conscious about not having the things that some of their classmates will be able to take for granted.”
“The hub will stock shirts, sweatshirts, skirts, trousers, socks, pumps, shoes and PE tops.”
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“Most of the items will be sourced from collection points and lost property at local schools and individual donations. Tesco Extra in Swinton has donated sets of new school uniforms and legwear retailer, SOCKSHOP, has donated a brand-new batch of children’s socks.”
“Footwear will be supplied by Sal’s Shoes – a charity that redistributes outgrown but not outworn shoes to children in desperate need [and] since 2013, Sal’s Shoes has provided over two million pairs of pre-loved children’s shoes in 46 countries around the world.”
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CJ Bowry – Founder of Sal’s Shoes – said: “There are 4.2 million children living in poverty in the U.K. That’s nine children in a classroom of 30 [and] with one in 10 families going further into debt to pay for children’s school clothes, we’re delighted to be able to help foot the bill for children in need in Salford.”
In addition to the new School Uniform Hub, Emmaus Salford also operates three charity stores in the city as well as Lucie’s Pantry social supermarket.
The charity’s social enterprise activities provide valuable work and training opportunities to formerly homeless people, whilst offering essential products and services to housed individuals and families at risk of homelessness.
For more information and to find out how you can offer your support, visit the Emmaus Salford website here.
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Greater Manchester officially launches five-year climate change action plan
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester has officially begun its five-year climate change action plan, with the overarching goal of becoming a net-zero city region by 2038.
The comprehensive pledge put together over a number of years itself will see Manchester City Council and the nearby local authorities put into action a number of key measures that will help to reduce not only central carbon figures but, eventually, across the 10 boroughs in turn.
Over the last 15 years, emissions have been reduced by approximately 64%, saving an estimated 44,344 tonnes of carbon through cleaner building energy, street lighting and other electronics, as well as the increasingly green and over-growing Bee Network.
They have also insisted that it isn’t just about cutting down on greenhouse gases; the aim is to make the city region and the surrounding areas more sustainable, affordable and create a better standard of life.
Our five-year plan to tackle climate change launches today. 🌏
It details how we’ll continue to deliver dramatic reductions in the amount of carbon we emit (the biggest contributor to climate change). 🏙️
As per the summary on the Council website, in addition to creating more efficient homes, they’re hoping to provide more access to nature and good-quality green space, “public transport you can rely on”, and “better health and wellbeing for those who live, work, study and visit here.”
With a steadily recovering local and national economy (touch wood), they’re also hoping for an influx of new jobs, too.
Summarising the key bullet points leading up to the end of the decade, these are the next steps currently outlined by the Council:
Lower carbon emissions
Grow the use of renewable energy
Improve low-carbon travel in the city
Improve air quality
Grow the city’s natural environment and boost biodiversity
Improve resilience to flooding and extreme heat
Engage and involve our workforce and our city’s communities
Reduce waste and grow reuse, repair, sharing and recycling
Support a move to a more circular economy
Minimise the negative impact of events held in the city
Develop our knowledge of our indirect emissions and lower them
Create a green financing strategy and explore new funding models for the city
Influence the environmental practices of other organisations
As for emissions, the target is now to drop the present output by another 34%, which will prevent almost 43,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from being pumped into the atmosphere.
Having touched upon the continued expansion of the Bee Network infrastructure, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is also set to install multiple new travel links over the coming years, including both new tram stops and train stations – further
You can read the climate action plan in full HERE.
Manchester’s firework displays are ‘back with a bang’ as they return from 2026
Emily Sergeant
Council-organised firework displays in Manchester’s parks are set to return from next year, it has been confirmed.
You may remember that these once-popular events have not been held since 2019, as the COVID-19 pandemic initially prevented them from taking place from 2020 onwards, and then following that, they remained paused on a trial basis while the Manchester City Council sought to ‘reprioritise funding’ to support a wider range of free community events across the city.
But now, as it seems, the door was never shut on their potential return.
An ‘improved financial position’ now means that the Council is in a position to bring firework events back, while also still continuing to support other community events.
Papers setting out the Council’s financial position show that fairer funding being introduced by the Government next year will leave the Council better off than previously anticipated, he the reason firework displays have been brought back into the mix.
The Council has admitted that ‘pressures remain’ after so many years of financial cuts, but this new funding creates the opportunity to invest in the things residents have said matter the most to them.
“Manchester prides itself on free community events and we know many people have missed Bonfire night firework spectaculars,” commented Cllr Bev Craig, who is the Leader of Manchester City Council.
“That’s why we are pleased to confirm they’ll be back by popular demand in 2026.
“We know that generations of Mancunians have enjoyed Council-organised displays and that free family events are a great way to bring people together… [and] now that this Government is actually investing in Councils like ours rather than the cuts we had since 2010, we can bring back Bonfire events.”
Emily Sergeant -
10th August 2020 
