Community projects help parents struggling with cost of back

Courtney Jarvis is just one of thousands of parents across the country feeling the pinch a little harder this year as the back-to-school shop begins.

"It's really difficult. Shirts, shorts, hats — it's really expensive," she said.

"It's right after Christmas and New Year."

Her four-year-old son Silvester will begin preschool in Townsville this year.

"Silvester has muscular dystrophy, so there are a lot of added expenses involved in raising him," Ms Jarvis said.

Centacare NQ director of client services Stephen Burrowes said they had seen a rise in demand for its program School Savvy, which helped parents purchase heavily discounted uniforms and school supplies.

"Last year we helped 2,500 families across the region," he said.

"We've just been absolutely inundated [this year]."

The program is now expanding to the Burdekin, Mount Isa, and Cloncurry.

Bushland Beach mother Maria Tracey said School Savvy helped ease the burden of a new school year on an already tight budget.

"Kids grow quite a lot, so we're constantly upgrading," Ms Tracey said.

"[We've saved] probably a couple of hundred dollars to be honest."

It was the first time the mother of six had accessed a program like School Savvy.

"We've just been struggling a little bit," she said.

"There's a big high in the cost of groceries, basically everything really."

Alison Schutt grew up in Mackay and was inspired to start Stationery Aid with her husband Jan in 2020 after her children came home with leftover exercise books and stationery.

"We had a stockpile at the end of their primary school and Jan being German sorted everything into categories," she said.

"We tried to find an organisation that would take them — no-one would take them. They wanted new [books], so they sat in my boot for 12 months. I couldn't bear to throw anything out."

Ms Schutt said the need to collect used resources was high, as was the need to support Queensland's most disadvantaged students.

"We thought we'd be sending items overseas, but the need is massive in our own backyard so we're focusing on Australia," she said.

"We estimate that about 1 per cent of Queensland students need some form of assistance to start the school year.

"If the books are in good condition and just a few pages have been used, we will remove the pages, and the names. If the front cover looks like it needs work we will contact it, so it looks new."

Ms Schutt said she hoped to expand the project north of Mackay and said the feedback from students spoke for itself.

"Last year, a chaplain said that one girl kept smelling an exercise book and she said 'I didn't know a new book ever smelt like this'," she said.

"And then another one couldn't believe that a pencil case had been given to her and she could put her name on it and keep it."

The charity's collection points are listed on its website at stationeryaid.org.