Church on the Street running winter Coat and Shoe Appeal in Burnley and Pendle

A Burnley and Pendle church has launched a Winter Coat and Shoe Appeal to help children living in poverty.

Since Church on the Street launched the scheme two winters ago, it has collected 65 coats and 71 pairs of shoes for children aged 16 and under.

Alex Blake, a church volunteer and Pendle nurse practitioner who’s running the appeal, hopes to double the figures this year.

“East Lancashire has some of the highest rates of child poverty in the country, and Pendle is at the top,” said Alex.

“It’s tragic that families are living without basic essentials, especially with the cost of living crisis. Their incomes have been outpaced by skyrocketing bills. It has the effect of stress filtering down from the parents to children.”

Pendle has the highest levels of child poverty in the country before housing costs, while Burnley has the fifth highest, according to government stats. In Pendle, around 41% of under 16s were living in relative low income families in the financial year ending in 2025, figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show. The proportion for Burnley was around 37%.

“A lot of our congregation are from low income families who are struggling to provide for themselves and their kids,” Alex added.

“There were a couple of kids coming into Sunday School in the middle of last winter who didn’t have coats and had holes in their shoes. We had some coats and shoes in stock that fitted them. It was lovely to see them put them on and leave church with them.

“If we can help by providing decent winter coats and shoes so children are going to school warm and dry, it takes the pressure off parents and leaves them to focus on putting a decent meal on the table. In this day and age, you’d think it’s a given that a child has warm coats and shoes, but it’s a shocking reality that I think some people aren’t aware of.”

To make a donation, please visit https://churchonthestreetministries.beaconforms.com/form/61a3a5dd