A charity that hands out second-hand school uniforms for free has announced that demand for its services 'has never been higher' - a revelation that will shock absolutely no one who has ever tried to buy a school jumper in August.

Wirral Free Uniforms for Schools, which runs 12 hubs across Wirral and has been at this for 14 years, says uniform prices are still climbing despite government guidelines meant to keep them in check. Even 'affluent areas' are feeling the pinch, thanks to 'posher schools' charging eye-watering sums for mandatory items.

Project co-ordinator Petra Davies put it bluntly: 'The cost of uniform, despite the government guidelines, is still rising in price and people just cannot afford it.'

Research from the Children's Society found that 68% of parents in north-west England said this year's school holidays were costing more than last year's - because nothing says 'summer fun' like budgeting for a £50 blazer.

The charity previously helped campaign for changes in government rules to limit the number of branded items schools can demand, theoretically allowing parents to buy cheaper generic clothing. But Davies notes there are 'caveats' - meaning schools have found creative ways to keep the exclusivity alive.

Take the girls' school requiring a navy jumper with a white stripe. 'The school is saying you don't need the logo on that jumper any longer, but in actual fact it's branded because of the white stripe,' Davies said. 'They are abiding by knocking down the number of logo'd items but there are lots of ways that the schools can get around it.'

Then there's a school in Birkenhead, considered 'posh' in the area, which charges £52 for a school rugby top alone. Davies noted, 'We have people who, in the posh schools, their uniform is actually more expensive than anyone else's so it really helps them if we can give stuff away.'

One mother-of-four at the Birkenhead hub said the service is 'really helpful' because it means she can afford days out for her kids instead of blowing her budget on uniforms. She itemized the damage: £50 for a pair of primary-school shoes, £20 for a pack of shirts, and £60 for a new blazer last year. 'When you add it all up it's a lot of money and a lot of stress from the beginning of the summer holidays right to the end,' she said.

Viktoria, who recently moved to the UK from Kyiv, Ukraine, said the uniform bank was a lifeline while her family settled in. 'We have two children and we only moved here two months ago, and now in my family only my husband works,' she said.

So, as schools prepare to welcome students back, the uniform bank stands as a testament to the fact that even in the land of free education, the cost of looking the part remains a parental tax - and one that's clearly not going away anytime soon.