Total underwear collected is 2,454,948
Thank you for sending us a pantastic 1,510 parcels in April.
As some of you already know, after nearly 20 years working in financial services I felt ready for something different. In 2004, I volunteered at an orphanage in Brazil, an experience that stayed with me and led me to continue volunteering in Thailand and later Ethiopia.
It was in Ethiopia in 2009 that I saw first-hand the impact of not having access to something so basic, yet so essential – underwear. That moment was a turning point. In 2010, I launched Smalls for All with a simple but powerful mission: to provide underwear to people who need it most, supporting dignity, health, and opportunity.
This year has been busy, which is good and bad. Good as we’re doing what we’re here to do but bad because people need Smalls. Last year we completed 101 requests, this year so far we’ve already completed 53. Every request, although different in terms of what’s being looked for, is the same. People working with people in need, supporting dignity, health and opportunity. I was talking to a lady yesterday about providing pants for girls in a remote area in Africa and how we can work together to make it happen. My bit is easy, hers not so much. The girls are in a very poor region; they sit on sand during their periods. To get to them, the lady works with a landmine charity as there are still landmines in and around where the girls are. I’m hopeful we’ll find a way – watch this space!
Since our last Talking Pants, we’ve provided new pants and new & gently worn bras to 8 organisations:
- 480 bras to The Bricon Foundation, a cancer charity in Nigeria.
- 390 pairs of pants to Streets Kitchen, an organisation working with people experiencing homelessness through their outreach programme.
- 205 pairs of pants to Cyrenians, a charity in aimed at tackling the causes and consequences of homelessness Central and South-East Scotland.
- 650 pairs of pants to Classrooms for Malawi for girls at Chileka Secondary School Ngumbe, Blantyre.
- 215 pairs of pants to The Harbour Centre in Plymouth, a charity providing community support and recovery services for people affected by drugs, alcohol and other substances.
- 90 pairs of pants to the Community One Stop Shop, an organisation to help alleviate the effects of poverty in South-West Edinburgh.
- 400 pairs of pants to Sebby’s Corner, a baby bank based in Barnet, North London.
- 20 bras to House of Hope, an organisation supporting individuals and their families impacted by breast cancer.
Thanks to you, we were able to provide underwear recently to Carefree Kids East Lothian. The organisation’s Paula Edmond told us, “One of our services is East Lothian School Uniform Bank. Although we do get school uniforms donated, we don’t get any underwear so this is a terrific help – underwear is something no child should have to go without.” We couldn’t agree more Paula!
As you may know, Smalls runs a small lottery to help with our overheads. While there are no spaces at the moment, we normally have a wee ‘reserve’ list of people who would like to join. The commitment is £5 payable on the 1st of the month, and the number of tickets is strictly limited to 200. Each month, someone wins £500 and Smalls receives £500. If you’re interested in joining our reserve list to take part as soon as a number becomes available, please email [email protected]. Thank you!
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
