Merseyway 50p school uniform shop open until Fri 21 August

Stockport families have until Friday 21 August to kit children out for September at 50p an item, as Merseyway’s pop-up school uniform shop runs its fifth summer. The shop opened on Friday 14 August for one week only, selling donated, good-quality uniform at 50p apiece, and Merseyway says all of this year’s proceeds go to the charity Emmie’s Kitchen. (Merseyway, “Pass it on, Stockport”, 14 July 2026)

What is on the rails

The scheme took donations in a bin in the covered mall from Tuesday 21 July to Monday 10 August, and Merseyway listed what it wanted: shirts and polo shirts; trousers, skirts, dresses and pinafores; jumpers and cardigans; blazers; PE kits; school shoes; and school bags. Everything had to be clean and wearable, with damaged or dirty items turned away. Stock is aimed at Stockport schools, though the centre says families from outside the borough will find plenty of plain items too. (Merseyway, “Pass it on, Stockport”)

Merseyway’s 2026 notice does not name the unit. In 2025 the sale ran from the Pop Up Stockport unit, which the centre describes as being in the undercover mall round the corner from Waterstones, and the donation bin that year stood outside Specsavers. (Stockport Council, 25 July 2025; Merseyway, The Pop Up) The centre’s general opening hours are 9am to 5.30pm Monday to Saturday and 10.30am to 4.30pm on Sunday, and it advises checking individual units, so if you are making a special trip it is worth ringing the centre first. (Merseyway opening times)

How big it has become

The scheme started in 2022 as a staff-run stall that took in more than 4,000 donated items and raised over £800 for Chelwood Foodbank. (Merseyway, November 2022) By 2024, according to the council’s account, more than 6,000 pre-loved items were sold in a week, more than 800 families were helped, £400 was taken on the first day alone, and £1,200 went to charities including Chelwood Foodbank and the Stockport arts and mental health charity Arc. (Stockport Council, 25 July 2025) Merseyway’s centre manager Victoria Nichol said this year that the scheme “has now become a real back-to-school tradition for Stockport”. (Merseyway, “Pass it on, Stockport”)

The council’s 2025 release put the cost of kitting out a child at £250 to £422, citing government and Children’s Society figures. At 50p an item, a blazer, two jumpers, five shirts, two pairs of trousers and a PE kit comes to about £6.

This year’s beneficiary, Emmie’s Kitchen, is registered charity 1191029. It provides hot meals, snack bags and support to parents and carers staying with a sick child at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, and was set up by the family of a girl treated there for leukaemia. (Charity Commission register, Emmies Kitchen; Emmie’s Kitchen)

What it means for you

• Go before Friday. The shop closes on Friday 21 August and there is no sign of an extension. Stock is whatever was donated, so sizes and school-specific items are first come, first served, and popular sizes are likely to thin out towards the end of the week.
• Bring a bag, and some coins. Prices are 50p per item, not per bag. Merseyway has not published how the stall takes payment, so carrying change is the safe option.
• Missed the donation window? The bin closed on 10 August. The council said in July 2025 that a year-round scheme, Reloved Stockport, was to follow so pre-loved uniform is available beyond August. (Stockport Council, 25 July 2025)
• Getting there: the centre’s address is 52 to 54 Great Underbank, SK1 1PD. Town-centre car parks and tariffs are on our parking in Stockport page, and the current bus and road position on our Stockport roadworks and travel page.

Check your own school’s September start date; whatever it is, the shop’s Friday close leaves at least a week or two to fill any gaps at full price.