More than 600 people queued outside a former burger bar on Bridge Street in Peterborough on 31 July. They were waiting for free second-hand school uniforms. Blazers, coats, summer dresses and prom dresses were laid out in the empty unit next to the town hall. Families could donate what their children had outgrown and take away whatever they needed. Nothing cost anything.

The demand is a straightforward function of price. "Branded school uniforms really hit a hole in the budget," said Hannah, 30. Her eldest daughter starts secondary school in September, and she has been setting money aside since before the last school year ended. Victoria, 33, came because her five-year-old had "shot up" and now needs clothes sized for six- and seven-to-eight-year-olds. "I'd probably be more stressed if these things weren't here," she said.

What makes the scheme worth attention is that the pop-up is not the whole of it. Peterborough City Council also runs a permanent second-hand uniform shop, open since November 2025. It sits in the Root and Rise community hub in the Queensgate shopping centre and trades six days a week. It stocks items for ages four to sixteen: jumpers, blazers, blouses, trousers, skirts and dresses, plus coats, hats and scarves. Everything is free, and donation points are spread across the city in supermarkets, a bank and funeral care branches. The shop has won a bronze Local Government Chronicle award.

Two problems, one answer

The council frames it as waste policy as much as welfare, and both framings hold. Uniform is outgrown rather than worn out. That makes it close to ideal for reuse. Keeping it in circulation cuts textile waste while removing a fixed seasonal cost from household budgets. "Supermarkets and shops are selling too much and there's much more that can be shared," said Cristina Fernandez-Hierro of Peterborough City Council.

The organisers are also careful about how it feels to walk in. The events are framed as swaps rather than handouts: people bring what they no longer need and take what they do. That distinction is deliberate. Participants are "not just having charity", Fernandez-Hierro said; "they are actually making a difference."

The event also hosted stalls from local family hubs, the National Literacy Trust and Co-op groups. It is now set to become a regular fixture.