(Lisa, two gallery systems… one above perhaps needed to address the Microsoft Edge problem… below alternative possibly easier as it uses a lightbox system that goes over the header, making the ‘next’ button easier… the one above is set to auto as the ‘next’ button makes the page jump up and down to accommodate header.. so pros and cons whichever is chosen!)
(Lisa, two alternative dropdown options below)
Maria Macnamara MBE – Founder
It was following her experience in Ethiopia that she decided to set up Smalls for All.
In 2015 Maria was recognised as an inspirational volunteer and awarded a Point of Light Award by the Prime Minister. “Maria’s work will have had an immediate impact on the daily lives of thousands of women and I am delighted to recognise her service with this Point of Light Award.” Points of Life are outstanding individual volunteers – people who are making a change in their community. In 2016 Maria was honoured with an MBE.
Alan McCormick – Chairman
Smalls for All captured his heart after he witnessed the amazing impact that giving someone their own underwear can have. Underwear not only restores dignity it allows the street kids to go swimming in public places, play football etc, etc.
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- Alan McCormick
It was following her experience in Ethiopia that she decided to set up Smalls for All.
In 2015 Maria was recognised as an inspirational volunteer and awarded a Point of Light Award by the Prime Minister. “Maria’s work will have had an immediate impact on the daily lives of thousands of women and I am delighted to recognise her service with this Point of Light Award.” Points of Life are outstanding individual volunteers – people who are making a change in their community. In 2016 Maria was honoured with an MBE.
Smalls for All captured his heart after he witnessed the amazing impact that giving someone their own underwear can have. Underwear not only restores dignity it allows the street kids to go swimming in public places, play football etc, etc.
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- Alan McCormick
Huge box of BRAS on their way to you, courtesy of the Wardley Slimming world LADIES. Xx
Someone put out a well-intentioned post in 2019 which had some misinformation in it suggesting we collect underwear to help prevent rape, which is not the case. Unfortunately, the post is still being shared. As well as having inaccurate information, the post also has our old address on it and is resulting in us receiving donations of make-up which we don’t collect and can’t use.
So I just wanted to put out a wee reminder to say:
1. We collect only NEW pants and new and gently worn (laundered) bras to help those in Africa and the UK who can’t afford or don’t have access to underwear.
2. We collect underwear because – for example – having pants means women can stay at their work and girls can stay in school each month, and to provide the dignity everyone deserves.
3. The address for donations is now West Calder rather than Livingston (please see: bit.ly/underwear-sfa).
Where we see misinformation we try to have it corrected, but that’s not always easy. To find out more about what we do and why, please see: www.smallsforall.org.
More than ever just now it’s pantastic to have the support of so many kind and generous people – we just want to make sure they know what we collect and why, and that we can use what people send us. Please can I ask for your help in spreading the (right) word about what we collect and why, with thanks to all of you who have already done so. Maria
Although Smalls remains OPEN to accept donations, our volunteers haven’t been able to work because of Covid restrictions. This of course means we’re a little behind, so apologies to anyone (who enclosed their email address) who hasn’t heard back from us yet. We received a pantastic 3,071 parcels in December, but still have about 1,700 of them to open which we won’t be able to start on until lockdown is lifted. Please keep sending us your kind donations of NEW pants and new and gently worn (laundered) bras, and don’t forget to include a note of your email address so that we can acknowledge them when Covid restrictions ease enough for us to get back to work and catch up again.
We’re still receiving lots of donations that have been sent to our old address in Livingston. We moved in June 2019 and our current address is Five Sisters Business Park, Westwood, West Calder, EH55 8PN. We’d appreciate any help you can give us in stopping the re-sharing of old posts which may have our old address on them. Thanks so much for your support. Maria