It's easy to criticise the cost of school uniform, (Exploiting the hard-up, readers' times, December 24) after all we all want things cheaper don’t we? And the supermarkets certainly churn out cheap polo shirts and trousers.

But the one thing none of us want to think about is the real costs of cheap goods. If a garment is being sold in the UK for £4-£5 the questions we need to ask are how on earth can the manufacturers be looking after their employees, and how can the wages be fair?

After all I suspect none of us want clothes so cheap that the people making them are unable to afford to actually send their kids to school at all.

Surely much better to pay people fairly than for us rip them off and make ourselves feel better with a text donation to this or that charity appeal?

We teamed up with Whitecross School and set the ball in motion back in 2009 as they were the first school in the UK to have Fair Trade school uniform and now we are working with many local schools to change all this - in fact now ALL our uniform is ethically sourced.

We are proud to say we have been recognised for this, - and here's what the judges said when they awarded UK winner in the School wear category in the Independent Retail Awards:

"The School Uniform Shop Hereford is a forward-thinking, socially engaged, ethical business that is leading the way in sustainable and ethical sourcing policy for school uniform."

We look forward to the day where all uniform is ethically sourced, as in our view the alternative real costs for the world are far too high to contemplate for business, individuals, or schools

Luke Conod

School Uniform Shop Hereford