A north-east charity that aims to help families in need with the cost of essential clothes have launched their winter campaign.
Moray School Bank, based in Rothes, collect donations of school clothes and money and give them to struggling families who have been referred to them.
Last year, the organisation supported 220 kids in total, supplying them with either uniforms or suitable clothing for winter.
The number of referrals they have received this year has increased, with 91 referrals in summer 2017 and 156 this year.
Now the charity wants to encourage local people to donate winter clothing like hats, scarves and jackets so that children will not go cold during the harsher months.
Debi Weir, chairwoman of Moray School Bank, believes that the festive period will be one of the busiest yet, if last year is anything to go by.
She said: “We are expecting a busy Christmas period as last year we had to stop taking referrals in mid-December.
“This happens because people realise they are going on holiday but will not have any warm clothes for their kids and we still want to give them dignity of choice.
“This time we are aiming to get referrals in by the second week in December so we have time to action them.
“What we are appealing for is when people are Christmas shopping to think of kids who won’t have hats or scarves and then donate them to us as they are essentials, not Christmas presents.”
Moray School Bank were formed in January last year and support families who are referred to the charity by professional organisations – including the council, the NHS and charities.
Mrs Weir is aiming to provide a wide variety of winter clothes to children as the temperatures drop rapidly as winter approaches.
She said: “We want to provide items of clothing like warm winter jackets, hats, scarves, footwear like boots or waterproof shoes to keep their feet warm and also things like tights, vests and warm underwear.
“We ask the general public to donate, they can drop off clothes a Tesco or they can contact us and we can give them specific items that we need.
“We also accept financial donations, although 52% of the donations we receive are clothes.”
