Barrow Women’s Institute’s project for 2023 began at a committee meeting when one of the ladies suggested we could collect and recycle bras as most charity bags and shops don’t want second hand bras. They just end up in landfill. We decided to donate them to the charity Against Breast Cancer because they sell recycled bras to raise money towards awareness of, and research into, breast cancer. All suitable bras are sent to developing countries to businesses set up by the charity.
Some facts from Against Breast Cancer charity:
We all agreed that collecting and recycling bras was a much better option than them going to landfill and we thought we may just get a few bras from our members. However, after some advertising on social media and putting our PINK Collection Box inside the Conservative Club porch (many thanks to Danielle and Nathan for letting us do this) by December we had over ten dustbin liners full! Donations came in from ladies in our village, other local WI groups, friends, family and even from as far away as Manchester.
The culmination of our bra collecting was our WI Christmas Tree at the Holy Trinity Christmas Tree Festival in December. We have been overwhelmed by the amount of donations, collecting stopped mid-January and by the time Barrow Voice goes to print 56kg, that’s 778 bras (!) will be boxed up and on their way to the charity in Oxford. Barrow WI ladies would like to say a big “thank you” to everyone who donated their unwanted bras to our very worthy cause last year.
If you would like more information on Barrow WI please contact our Secretary, Kate Bowler at bluechairs6@googlemail.com or visit our Facebook page.
Kate Bowler