The former boxer has hundreds of uniforms ready to go – and expects to have to ‘go back and buy more’
Hull’s Tommy Coyle will be handing over school uniforms by the hundred in his annual free giveaway. The former boxer started giving away school clothing to hard-pressed households during the pandemic and it has become a regular fixture before the start of the new school year ever since.
Tommy’s Free School Uniform Project will be taking place at his TC60 gym in Humber Street, Hull, on Wednesday, August 27. Doors open at 11am and will continue to be open “until all the uniforms have gone”, said Tommy.
He is being helped in the generous gesture by sponsors including TransWaste, Cranswick Foods and MKM, with a small donation on top from Hatfields Land Rover. The scheme is being delivered by the Coyle Sports Community.
Tommy said: “My mum and dad hated this time of year, with four kids in the end. It’s so expensive kitting the kids out with uniforms and they grow so fast.
“Me and some pals, including Adam Couch [chief executive at Cranswick] and David Kilburn [founder and executive chairman of MKM] just got our heads together and decided we had to make this work.” Tommy began the initiative in 2020 when he purchased enough uniforms for up to 1,000 pupils to help Hull families, struggling with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Is Hull the best place to live in Yorkshire? You can have your say by completing the poll below or by clicking here.
Recognising the financial strain on most parents, and the pressure to get kids kitted out for the new term that September, Tommy said at the time: “I went to get some uniforms for my team and there was a big queue of people trying to buy uniforms.
“I phoned the missus and asked if she got our kids uniforms and asked out of interest how much it was. When she told me I thought, how do parents afford this if they have got three or four kids to buy for, on the back of a pandemic, where they might not have received full wages or have probably been made redundant.”
He decided to act and used the profits he made during lockdown from his fruit and veg business in a shopping spree at Asda, filling trolleys full of school uniforms to hand out. Tommy said ahead of this year’s giveaway: “It grows every year.
“The first year was good; the second was better. It just keeps going from strength to strength. I can see me having to go back to the supermarket halfway through, like I did last year, to buy more uniforms.
“It’s just that little bit of a release from the anxiety for parents, and with Christmas around the corner as well. But we will be helping with that later when we get sorted with our Christmas toy appeal.”
Tommy said that the Free School Uniform Project 2025 has already bought enough clothing to help 400 families. “People will come and tell us how many children they have and there will be one set of uniform per child.
“It’s all done on trust. We don’t ask any questions.”
Tommy added: “Some years this does put a strain on the business, if things haven’t gone as well at the gym as we forecast. It does motivate me to work that bit harder when it gets towards this time.
“We’ve set a precedent now. It’s something you know you have to do.”