Our programme delivers fairness

Our Back to School Programme has supported local families for many years to help them send their children to school with the right uniform, shoes and stationery. We have constantly adapted it so we can have the biggest positive impact possible with the money we allocate towards it.

We take donations very seriously and we believe in transparency over how we manage the responsibility we are given on donors’ behalf. Our professional and compassionate approach to the process for getting Back to School Programme support means you can have confidence that the programme delivers joy, hope and relief to school children and their families.

We believe in working with and alongside families as they manage the financial situation they find themselves in where they can’t afford things like uniforms and shoes for their children. No-one wants the kids to suffer, so we see our role as contributing towards getting the kids to school in the correct uniform and giving the parents some breathing room so they can get what else the children need.

We also use our expertise and knowledge to help the struggling family find longer-term answers. We work hard to ensure the money we have goes further and it empowers the family to better manage school costs. We can do this well because we can draw on our expertise as a significant hub for free financial mentor services in Christchurch. We use our financial mentors for this programme, outside of their government contracted work.

Families apply for assistance from the Back to School Programme on our website. We collect information from that and, along with an interview, gather information on the family’s financial situation. We work out whether the family qualifies for our help, what assistance they need and talk them through what we are able to do.

At this point, our knowledge of different schools’ uniform requirements can be very useful. A good example is that while the school might name a uniform outlet and say non-monogram black shorts are needed, we can sometimes point out that much cheaper ones from other sources are suitable.

With the money saved, we might be able to get the child an extra T-shirt. We encourage families to look at second-hand options and be strategic about how uniforms can be handed down and re-used across the family.

Sharing this knowledge is important because we can only afford to provide help for one uniform/shoes, stationery pack per child during their primary school and their high school years.