For Ribbon Academy, that isn't a hypothetical figure. It's what the school has already raised through its partnership with Fundraise & Recycle, with the money going towards its student enrichment programme.
Their success demonstrates something we see time and time again: a clothes bank can become a valuable long-term fundraising tool when the whole school community gets behind it.
Ribbon Academy began by making one important decision – putting its clothes bank somewhere people couldn't miss it.
Rather than hiding it away in a quiet corner of the school grounds, the bank was positioned right at the front entrance.
Parents see it. Pupils see it. Staff see it. Visitors see it.
That visibility keeps recycling front of mind and makes donating unwanted clothes as convenient as possible.
It sounds simple, but location can make a huge difference.
Ribbon Academy didn't simply install a clothes bank and hope people would use it.
The school has actively promoted the bank to parents and pupils, regularly reminding its community that unwanted clothes can be turned into funds for the school.
That's an important part of creating a successful clothes recycling programme.
Families constantly accumulate clothes they no longer need – from children's clothes they've outgrown to shoes, coats and other items sitting unused in wardrobes.
By regularly reminding people where they can donate them, Ribbon Academy has helped turn those occasional wardrobe clear-outs into an ongoing fundraising opportunity.
Once Ribbon Academy saw that its first clothes bank was working, it didn't stop there.
The school expanded the programme by securing multiple clothes banks across different locations, creating more opportunities for people to donate and increasing the potential amount of clothing that could be collected.
The result speaks for itself.
More than £6,700 raised towards student enrichment programmes.
That's money that can be reinvested into opportunities and experiences for pupils – generated through clothing that families and members of the community no longer wanted.
Perhaps the most powerful part of Ribbon Academy's story is how little ongoing administration the model requires compared with many traditional fundraising activities.
There's no event to organise every month, no tickets to sell and no need to repeatedly ask parents to contribute money.
The clothes banks remain in place throughout the year. The community donates. Fundraise & Recycle takes care of the collections and recycling, and the school generates funds from the clothing collected.
It's fundraising that can continue working in the background.
Ribbon Academy's success wasn't built around a complicated fundraising strategy.
Make the clothes bank visible. Tell people about it. Make donating easy. And when you know the model works, look for opportunities to expand it.
Those simple principles have helped Ribbon Academy raise more than £6,700 – and that figure can continue to grow.
So, the question for other schools isn't simply whether a clothes bank could work.
It's what could your school achieve with the money it raises?
