School sets up pre-loved prom shop to ensure no student misses out

A ‘pre-loved prom shop’ has been set up at a Lynn secondary school with the aim of ensuring that no student misses out.Staff at Lynn’s King Edward VII (KES) Academy have come up with the initiative and are inviting anyone from the local community to donate unwanted evening suits, dresses, shoes, handbags, accessories and clothing rails to the school.Assistant head of Year 11 Huw Griffiths told the Lynn News: “We hope to ensure that no student is unable to go to prom due to not having anything to wear.”

Mr Griffiths said it came about after the staff recognised that proms can be a large expense for an outfit that is only worn once.“We realised that hundreds of children in the area spend a lot of money on clothes for prom, that then get put in a wardrobe and never looked at again,” he said. “We have many students in our school who simply don’t have hundreds of pounds to spend on suits, dresses and everything else that goes with prom.

“So, we decided to set up a pre-loved prom shop, where anyone from the local community can donate unwanted evening wear to us.“We then loan these clothes to students who need them, and they simply bring them back after the event.”Mr Griffiths emphasised that KES would make no money from the initiative – but it’s hoped that in time, it will have a large selection of outfits and accessories for students to choose from for years to come.He said staff have also realised that local schools have historically held their proms on the same evening and so have made some changes this year. “In an attempt to support local businesses, we’ve moved ours to Thursday 27th June, in the hope that it allows those businesses to benefit from the additional custom that these events inevitably bring,” Mr Griffiths added.“We also hope it eases traffic congestion on the night.”Items can be dropped off for the pre-loved prom shop at KES Academy on any school day between 8am and 9am or between 3pm and 4pm up until May 24.