Business
Free school uniform schemes demand is rising – Telford charities
Andy GiddingsBBC News, West Midlands
Telford Crisis SupportSchemes offering help to families struggling with the cost of school uniforms have reported a growth in demand this summer.
It comes after the average cost of a school uniform was just over £340 for primary school children and around £454 for those in secondary education, government figures indicated earlier this year.
The charity Parentkind produced research this month which suggests 30% of parents go without food or heating to afford uniform and 45% rely on credit cards.
Erin Aston, from Telford Crisis Support, said: “If somebody can’t afford food they might not be able to afford other items like uniform.”
The charity runs a scheme which has been giving free school uniform to children in the Telford area since 2019 and it has grown year-on-year.
‘Branded items expensive’
In its first year it received 125 requests, but Ms Aston, the charity’s coordinator, said this year it had received 320 requests in August alone and a similar number in July, with those two months the most busy.
The charity is helped by the local authority as well as businesses and community groups.
Buying school uniform could be expensive, Ms Aston said, especially branded items such as blazers and PE kit, which are often in short supply at the charity.
But she said legislation, due to come in next year, which will limit the number of branded items schools can ask parents to buy would be a big help.
Zoe TurnerZoe Turner runs a similar scheme in nearby Shifnal, which collects donated school uniforms and then gives them away for a donation of just £1 per item.
She set up Uniforms Together at the start of the year, initially to help parents with the cost of Scouts uniform, which she said was in limited supply at charity shops.
She has been supported by Woods, the local dry cleaners, which cleans the clothing and serves as a collection point and by St Andrew’s Church, which provides venues for the sales.
‘World Book Day help’
Ms Turner said 236 items went in her first sale, in April, and another 370 were snapped up this summer, with another sale due next month, with all money going to local church groups for children.
She said her group had become “really busy” and was now taking donations for schools outside Shifnal.
Her next move is to offer prom clothes and costumes for World Book Day, but storage space has become an issue, so she has asked local businesses if they have room they can give up.
Wolverhampton City Credit UnionWolverhampton City Credit Union gives a different form of support.
Since last year it has been offering to match pound-for-pound the first £75 paid into one of its child savings accounts.
That extra money can then be spent on school uniforms.
‘Super, super busy’
Antoinette Kelly, who operates the scheme, said she believed: “Every child deserves the chance to have a new uniform on the first day of term.”
Last year 340 children were supported by the scheme and she said it had been “super, super busy” this summer.
The scheme is financed by the city council. and she expected demand this year to be even greater than last year and said it was better for families to use offers like this than to get into debt by taking out loans.
She also said Wolverhampton had numerous second hand uniform banks, based at community centres and churches around the city.
Powell’s term is nearing its end and the US Senate is considering Trump’s nominee for his replacement, Kevin Warsh. A key Republican, Thom Tillis, has withheld his support for Warsh unless the Trump administration would drop its investigation into Powell.
Business
Intel bags big gains! Chipmaker’s shares jump 26% on blockbuster results; how Trump admin benefits – The Times of India
Intel share price soared sharply on Friday after the chipmaker delivered a first-quarter performance that exceeded market expectations. And the win was not just for the chipmaker, but also the whole of US!The stock climbed 26.7% during trading on Friday, marking what could be its strongest single-day gain since 1987. Momentum continued after the closing bell, with shares rising a further 20% in after-hours trading as investors reacted to signs of a sustained turnaround driven by artificial intelligence.Intel reported revenue of $13.58 billion (€11.6bn) for the quarter, ahead of the $12.3 billion (€10.5 bn) forecast and up 7.2% from a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.29, far exceeding expectations of $0.01.A key contributor to this performance was the company’s Data Centre and AI (DCAI) division, which delivered revenue of $5.05 billion (€4.2bn), up 22.4% year-on-year and well above analyst estimates of $4.41 billion (€3.77bn). The results indicate strong demand for Intel’s Xeon 6 processors and Gaudi 3 AI accelerators, particularly among enterprise clients and cloud service providers.Chief executive Lip-Bu Tan pointed to a broader shift in artificial intelligence usage as a major factor behind the growth. He said, “the next wave of AI will bring intelligence closer to the end user, moving from foundational models to inference to agentic.” He added, “This shift is significantly increasing the need for Intel’s CPUs and wafer and advanced packaging offerings.”The company also issued an upbeat outlook for the second quarter, forecasting revenue in the range of $13.8 billion (€11.8billion) to $14.8 billion (€12.6billion), surpassing investor expectations of $13 billion (€11.1billion).
But how is Washington winning?
The rally has had a direct impact on the US administration’s investment in Intel. In 2025, during a period of severe financial strain for the company, the administration of Donald Trump acquired a 9.9% stake in a move aimed at stabilising the business. The government invested $8.9 billion (€7.8bn) at a share price of $20.47 (€18.01), with $5.7 billion (€5bn) of that amount coming from previously approved but unpaid grants, according to the Euro News.At the time, Intel was facing multi-billion dollar losses and operational challenges, prompting concerns over its viability. As part of the intervention, the company cancelled planned factory projects in Germany and Poland, redirected focus towards US-based manufacturing, and reduced its global workforce by 25%, cutting around 25,000 jobs.Following the latest jump, Intel’s shares are now trading at $81.3 (€71.5), representing an increase of nearly 300% since the government first took its stake. The sharp rise highlights how the company’s improved financial performance has translated into substantial gains for the US administration.
Statistics Jersey says there have been “sharp increases” in some energy prices.
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