Bra donations sought by Salisbury Soroptimists

Salisbury Soroptimists are once again collecting bras to send to Africa.

Pink baskets have been placed around the city, and we will be able to deposit gently used or new bras during May and June.

The bras will be transported to Africa to be used by women who would otherwise not be able to afford such a garment, but who will value it.

Collection points at Five Rivers Leisure Centre, Salisbury Library, Salisbury Playhouse, and Salisbury Hospital.

At their recent AGM,  Salisbury Soroptimists were joined by Jeanette Kruger, founder of the Zabra-Afreebra initiative. Jeanette explained how she started this idea.

She found that she could not donate bras to charity shops, and the charities that collected bras mostly sent them to fabric recovery sites, rather than reusing them as bras.

Jeanette is from South Africa and therefore knew that millions of women on that continent have trouble putting food on the table each day for their family, let alone being able to buy themselves a bra. So next time she returned to South Africa, she took her spare bras with her and easily found new homes for them.

She gave a number of bras to a housemaid to take back to her village. On her return, the maid reported that the women of the village were so thrilled with the bras she gave them that they came to her house the next day to clean everything. When she asked them why, they told her no one had ever given them something for nothing just for themselves! They were amazed that women on the other side of the world were kind enough to make the effort to send them such a gift and wanted to repay the kindness.

Jeanette encouraged friends and relatives to donate bras, and anyone going to South Africa was asked to take them in their luggage. Businessmen were particularly helpful ‘bra mules’ as they often visited for short periods and didn’t need their full luggage allowance, so could use it for bras. This method is still used today.

Jeanette began to contact charities working with women in African countries who would be able to distribute bras for her. One of these is the Rural Smile Foundation, which works in Ghana and has now taken thousands of bras from the UK to Ghana, many of which were collected in Salisbury. They are keen to distribute our bras again this year.

This is still a small-scale project run by Jeanette, but having a huge impact in Africa. Imagine being that woman who is gifted a bra, for herself!

You can help by sorting out your bra drawer and donating any that you don’t use any more.