Police donate to Worthing uniform centre to help fund school clothes for those in need

The force has donated £500 to the Worthing Uniform Centre, which will help to fund school uniforms and winter clothing for those most in need.

PCSO Emma Newbery, who presented a cheque to the charity on Tuesday, said: “Many families are experiencing extreme hardship due to furlough and redundancies, so I wanted to nominate this charity for some help from the Police Property Act Fund.

“This is very worthy cause and I am so happy that the local policing neighbourhood team can help this charity make a difference.”

The Police Property Act Fund is a pot of money made up from the sale of found property and from property confiscated by order of the court, and then sold.

Paul Eustice, from the Les Alden Foundation, which launched the Worthing Uniform Centre, said: “Worthing Uniform Centre is a partnership between Worthing Food Foundation (WFF) and Broadwater Covid Support Group.

“It supports local families with ‘pre-loved’ school uniforms and winter coats and has recently opened a new base at 52 Ann Street to store and distribute them.

“The money will be used for additional shelving, cleaning of donated items and supplying additional stock.”

Councillor Margaret Howard, a member of both WFF and the Broadwater Group, said: “We really appreciated this grant at what is always a difficult time of year.

“It helped us set up our new base and a lot of local children will be warmer in winter as a result.”

Pat Schan, a retired midwife and a group member, added: ”The community has been pulling together during the crisis and we are grateful that the local police, as part of the community, were able to play their part.

“It’s a great help.”