Total underwear collected is 2,499,219
Thank you for sending us a pantastic 1,499 parcels in August.
Since our last Talking Pants, we’ve provided new pants and new or gently worn bras to 5 organisations:
- 475 pairs of pants and bras to the Ikirwa School Project, supporting children in the Midawe Village in Tanzania.
- 524 pairs of pants to the Little Green Sock Project, a charity working in Manchester.
- 300 pairs of pants to the Baraka Community Partnership, providing education projects in Zambia.
- 930 pairs of pants to The School Bank, West Lothian.
- 1,183 pairs of pants to New4U Children’s Clothing Bank, supporting families across West Fife.
Thanks to you, we were able to provide underwear recently to Chifundo UK who run a project delivering hygiene packs to be distributed to girls in schools around Blantyre, Malawi. The organisation’s Lynn Walton told us, “We run the Lotus Project delivering packs that contain reusable sanitary pads, panties, soap and a flannel, with training about menstrual health, to girls in poor schools around Blantyre. Often girls in Malawi do not have any underwear, so you can imagine what a difference this makes to them.”
We were also able to provide underwear recently to South Ayrshire School Clothing Bank. The organisation’s Nicola Cramond told us, “We support children and young people experiencing financial hardship across South Ayrshire. We provide essential items for the school day, including school uniform, PE clothing, shoes, jackets, school bags and other practical clothing items. Underwear is one of the most basic but important items we provide. It supports dignity, hygiene, comfort and confidence, particularly for children starting school, pupils needing PE clothing, families in crisis, or children who do not have suitable clothing for the school day. Thank you so much for the donation. These will make a huge difference to the families we work with.”
In May’s Talking Pants, I mentioned that I had been talking to a lady about providing pants for girls in a remote area in Africa where they had to sit on sand during their period, and how we were hopeful we could work together to make it happen. The solution is, of course, for the women to make their own pants! For those of you who know me well, you’ll know I’m known for my patience (not!). So you can perhaps imagine how excited I am that after 3 years of trying to get a pant-making pilot in Africa up and running, in the next 2-3 weeks we’ll be starting a pilot to make pants in Angola. The lady I spoke to is Delyth Pannett, UK Country Coordinator for Days for Girls UK, a charity dedicated to ending period poverty and stigma. With over 15 years of experience in education and sustainable solutions, she has lived in Azerbaijan and Angola. Delyth is passionate about menstrual equity and education, overseeing the distribution of reusable menstrual kits and training sewing teams globally. It’s no exaggeration when I say that the pant-making pilot is only being made possible because of Delyth, and we are all incredibly thankful to her for giving her time and experience to this project. Delyth is heading to Angola at the end of the month so we’ll update next month on where we’ve got to.
Planning for our move is progressing, but it looks like it will be October/November time before we’re in our new home. Meanwhile, the decluttering and packing continues, as well as all the business-as-usual tasks. In 2025 we managed 101 requests, this year so far we’ve dealt with 84 so it’s fair to say we’re spinning a few plates at Smalls. For now, it’s business as usual so keep addressing your donations to Smalls for All, Five Sisters Business Park, Westwood, West Calder EH55 8PN.
Thanks as always for supporting Smalls.
Maria
P.S.
If you’d like to donate money, you can do so here: https://bit.ly/money-sfa
Or
Donate pants the easy way: https://bit.ly/give-sfa
