free school meals/uniform????

djdido2

hi there

i'm a self-employed lone parent of 2 children (primary school)and get FTC/WTC, working part-time. am i entitled to free school meals and school uniform? or does it differ with each local authority. i am struggling a bit at the moment and am searching all avenues of moneysaving.

thanks in advance


djdido

Becles

Sorry but you don't get free school meals if you are working.

You can only claim if you are on benefits only up to approx £15K a year. Even if you are working and your household income is less than £15K, you won't get any help, which I felt was a quite unfair!

djdido2

cheers becles

it is unfair really. around 35 quid a month to cover this. its a bit ludicrous really. could do with some good moneysaving ideas then. probably packed lunches but i am stuck for time really.

Becles

I send mine with packed lunches, as it's cheaper and I'd rather they had a decent home cooked meal on an evening as their main meal.

As they are proper boys who are always in scrapes and "accidents" I just buy cheap uniform from Asda etc. It's not worth paying a lot when they keep putting the knees out of trousers playing football and stuff. I also just buy plain jumpers which work out a lot cheaper than the ones with the school badge on.

gravitytolls

Becles wrote:

Sorry but you don't get free school meals if you are working.

You can only claim if you are on benefits only up to approx £15K a year. Even if you are working and your household income is less than £15K, you won't get any help, which I felt was a quite unfair!

I think it's wholly unfair too.:mad:

Fran

Re school uniform - yes that does vary between authorities, perhaps it's worth checking yours in case.

msmicawber

Hi Djdido2,

I'd also recommend asking at the school as my friend and I (with children at different schools) recently found that there was cheap uniform arrangement for low income families at our children's schools, but not advertised so you have to ask. I was gutted as I'd just spent £150 on what the school deemed essential. My friend kitted her boy out at reduced rates for £25!

I gather that a lot of schools have surplus and second hand uniform that they sell cheaply, but don't advertise in case it's just the canny that come forward rather than the needy.

malcindebt

My daughters nursery has a sale every year where the new intake parents go, and they can but 2nd hand school jumpers. Obviously these are all washed and none have holes etc in, but it is far cheaper thn buying from the school shop.

Plus 50% of the fund go back nto the nursery, and 50% to Charity.

Maybe this would be a good idea elsewhere.

raq

malcindebt wrote:

My daughters nursery has a sale every year where the new intake parents go, and they can but 2nd hand school jumpers. Obviously these are all washed and none have holes etc in, but it is far cheaper thn buying from the school shop.

Plus 50% of the fund go back nto the nursery, and 50% to Charity.

Maybe this would be a good idea elsewhere.

Our school does exactly the same and it's fab. I think round about 3 times a year. Great because the jumbers alone are £12.00 and when you look in the lost property box at the end of the week you would think some parents had money to burn. I always make sure my kiddies have all their items with them when they arrive home from school., ssssooooo expensive.

welshcakes

Asda. My answer for a lot of things but for school clothes and shoes, wow, they are great. I had a look on EBay and realised that after P&P, buying new from Asda was cheaper. I'm another that supports packed lunches, making them the evening before (have the kids join in).