Danielle Lappin, reporter

Helensburgh's children are now back at school, kitted out in brand new uniforms and shiny new shoes. But just how much does a school uniform set parents back?

Parents in Argyll and Bute who qualify for a school clothing grant are given £50 to help towards the cost. In terms of school clothing grants elsewhere the £50 for Argyll and Bute is at the lower end of the scale.

Residents in West Dunbartonshire who qualify receive £100, a relatively high figure with those in West Lothian getting £110 and Angus being on the lower end of the scale getting just £20.

The Advertiser took to the streets of Helensburgh to find out just how far £50 goes in getting your child kitted out for the new term.

Doing some research beforehand it became apparent that it was going to be a very limited and very quick shopping trip.

For many parents looking to get their children uniforms they are staple shops that get visited every year – Marks and Spencers, Asda and Clarks to name a few.

But for those shopping in Helensburgh their options are limited. Many parents will go to supermarkets to get the uniform basics of shirts, skirts, trousers and jumpers but in Helensburgh neither Waitrose, the Co-operative or Tesco have a clothing section.

Of the shops in the streets of Helensburgh M&Co was the only one who had a school clothing section and even that wasn’t all that extensive. They had the basics of trousers, shirts, skirts, pinafores, socks and tights at reasonable prices which could be purchased for within the £50.

M&Co had the school essentials from £7. Basic school trousers, shirts and a skirt started at £7, a dress was priced at £10 and a packet of tights was £7 but buy one get one half price. Based on the prices at M&Co it was possible to get the ‘essentials’ from there of a skirt, a dress, two shirts and some tights.

The only essential that the store didn’t stock was school jumpers but they were available online.

Adding on shoes and a jacket was where the cost shot up and the £50 budget became unrealistic. M&Co had a Trespass waterproof jacket for £20 which proved popular with customers kitting out their kids for the new term.

A spokeswoman for M&Co said: “We have been really busy with people in buying school clothes. Everything has sold really well and people have been happy with the good quality.

“The Trespass jackets have sold extremely well, as soon as we put more out they disappear.

“Staff have bought their kids uniforms from here and have been delighted with the quality, we haven’t had any returns.”

When asked about the limited options in Helensburgh for picking up everything necessary to complete the uniform they said that they had been popular for children going too primary but thought there was even less options to buy high school uniforms in the area.

They expressed that many people will probably shop online or still head into Dumbarton or elsewhere to buy what they need.

The next stop was Helensburgh’s only shoe store and a school kid’s nightmare – Clarks. With options in buying school shoes very limited in Helensburgh the only location was Clarks.

But with the average pair of school shoes coming in at £36, the £50 clothing grant had been spent twice over, assuming the purchase of a jacket and that didn’t include items that had to be purchased through the school with logos, such as ties and blazers or a PE kit.

While the £50 bought the basics it didn’t buy a school uniform in its entirety.

In the lead up to the children going back to school we asked social media users what they spent on their children’s uniforms and where they went to buy them.

Ailsa Adams, said: “This council was giving out £50 in 2002. I spent £140 yesterday on the main uniform, skirts and shirts came from M&S, socks ect Primark, jacket Cardigan and shoes from Asda (I would have preferred Clarks but that would have been at least another £30 on top of the Asda price) the grant is of course a help but I find it very unfair how some councils give out more than others.”

Vicki Trigg, said: “It's the shoes that are a killer. I can get the logo stuff second hand so that's not too bad and anything else is from Asda. But decent shoes that won't fall apart or damage their feet and I'm looking at upwards of £100 plus trainers for my 3.”

Xcarla Henderson, said: “The actual uniform can be bought cheaply in Asda but if you want decent hard wearing shoes they are at least £40 each.”

Joanna Fitzgerald Davis, said: “We get 100 pound per child in west Dumbarton which just about covers the primary school stuff but high school it costs way more than that.”

Vicki Hambly, said: “I've just bought shoes at £50 and £52. The rest I got 20% off at M&S as soon as school finished but then school logo jumpers on top of that.”

With many parents who replied to our post shopping in Asda for school clothes it seems that even they struggle to buy the complete uniform for £50. A decent pair of shoes is using up at least two thirds of that amount before any of the basics have been bought and in Helensburgh anyway, £50 isn’t sufficient.