Norfolk charity warns that children without winter basics will fall behind
The 'No Cold Child' campaign is calling on retailers to give away unsold winter coats by November to help ensure every child has a warm coat this winter
A charity worker in Norfolk is warning that children who don't have the basics this winter are more likely to develop health issues and fall behind in school.
It comes as research from national charity, Parentkind, suggests that 150,000 children are growing up in homes where their parents can't afford to buy them an overcoat.
"Putting extra pressure on household budgets"
Adam Baker is from the Norfolk Community Foundation. He told us why action's needed:
"The price of food has remained stubbornly high. We have also seen that the prices of fuel and energy are going up this winter - that's a combination that is putting extra pressure on household budgets.
"What we saw during the 'fuel crisis' of a few years ago is that people were using their savings to buy essentials. That meant that come next year they didn't have the money needed to pay for things like new uniform and coats. It meant that people were getting into debt and it was snowballing from there."
The campaigns main details:
- The 'No Cold Child' campaign launched by Parentkind is calling on big name retailers to give away unsold winter coats by November to help ensure every child has a warm coat this winter.
-Fashion brand FatFace will provide 10,000 winter coats for the campaign, while the Guinness Partnership has also provided funding for 2000 coats.