Many families across Peterborough, Stamford and Rutland struggle with the cost of school uniforms
Stationery costs are also an issue
It's back to school week with many parents across Peterborough Stamford and Rutland feeling the financial pressure of the new term.
New data shows over a third of families in the east midlands say the cost of back-to-school supplies will put them into debt – with 3 in 10 parents considering home-schooling to avoid the cost
We've spoken to the Reverend Tom Bowring who runs the Rutland Uniform swap at Oakham Baptist Church.
He told us; "I'm a father of 4 children and we really feel the hit when it comes to August and we're trying to plan uniform for the years ahead at the time where the cost of living is rising and rising in every other area as well."
This is a problem that isn't going away
"We're starting to see that more and more schools are moving away from the standard grey trousers, white shirts and grey skirts and that's introducing quite of lot of extra costs to families at the moment."
"It's my real desire and I'd love to see schools sign up to having a single uniform that they have - that they're not going to change and it's a uniform that's more widely available."
"It's a huge cost when it comes to that time of the year and families just don't have it at the moment."
Martyn James is a Financial Expert who we spoke to.
He says: "This is a problem that isn't going away and the cost of living crisis has made it abundantly clear that we need to just get past these tricky moments but how we can help them long term."