The School Bank West Lothian & Cambridge Bioscience
The School Bank West Lothian is a volunteer-led group that aims to improve the lives of children and families in West Lothian experiencing financial hardship by providing them with a brand new school uniform and other clothing and equipment required for the school day.
The families referred to them need help for many different reasons, such as fleeing domestic abuse, mental health issues, working poor, and homelessness. Although West Lothian has one of the largest school clothing grants in Scotland, many families they help are ineligible for the grant or find that it doesn’t cover the cost of uniforms, supplies and shoes across the school year.
The Uniform Bank contacted the ESES Communities Teams to tap into their unique relationship with both suppliers and beneficiaries.
They were looking specifically for water bottles and knew the children had been excited in the past by a water bottle with a unique logo.
Every child needs the right clothes and equipment to participate in their education. PE is just like every other lesson and children need a water bottle. Most children have a water bottle, but for many of the children referred to them, this just isn’t the case.
The Match
Cambridge Bioscience is a UK-based distributor of life science research and diagnostic products. The University of Edinburgh is one of its customers and is keen to ensure that its suppliers invest in Edinburgh and South East Scotland.
They asked Cambridge Bioscience to review the ‘asks’ on the ESES Communities Portal and they were keen to engage, approaching the ESES Communities Team with three offers.
For many families struggling to cover the cost of uniforms, purchasing a water bottle can feel out of reach. But hydration is a basic need for every young person, and together, we can make it accessible to all. This is the power of collaboration—working hand in hand to create brighter, healthier futures for our young people. Thank you, Cambridge Bioscience, for being part of this journey!
In line with our agreement with the University of Edinburgh, we were pleased to contribute to three projects to support the local community. I dropped the water bottles at the Uniform Bank and thanked Collette for showing me around. The work they do is amazing and impactful.