Cannock and District Soroptimists are working with Waste Savvy Staffordshire on a project they run to re-use/ recycle bras which women no longer need.
There are pink collection boxes in many parts of the county – Cannock Soroptimists now have their own! Once the box is full the bras are taken along to Waste Savvy Staffordshire who pass them on to Action Breast Cancer [ABC]. This charity works with a specialist company who then buy them by weight. The funds are used by ABC to fund research into Breast Cancer.
The bras go mostly to African countries where they are either:
- sold and the money raised helps further with the work in breast cancer
- given to girls and women, thus giving them status and helping reduce the risk of sexual assault
- taken apart and the component parts recycled
So every bra, no matter what its condition, can be used to great advantage to support women – which is at the heart of Soroptimism.
The recent two week campaign resulted in an amazing 701 bras being donated!! And people are still getting in touch wishing to donate – fabulous! As part of our Federation ‘90 for 90’ to celebrate 90 years of Soroptimist International in the UK, our 90s are adding up!
SI Cannock used their social media site to ask for unwanted bras. Three club members had – and still have – collection boxes outside their homes for bras to be donated. Other members helped by collecting items from friends, family and people unable to deliver them.
This will be an on-going project for Cannock Soroptimists, all donations will be welcome. Please send a private message through the Facebook page www.facebook.com/SICannock or email us on SI_Cannock_Donations@hotmail.com and we can arrange delivery or collection.
Photo below: 1. Tracey Stokes, PA Officer and Club President Carole Holdcroft with some of the donated bras
