Ilminster Rotarians Terry Bate and Linda Piggott have been encouraging friends and relatives to donate their unwanted or unloved bras to help raise vital funds for cancer research.
BCR Global Textiles, who help small businesses in Africa, have teamed with UK charity Against Breast Cancer.
Through their textile project BCR are preventing valuable textiles going to landfill giving them a new lease of life in developing countries across Africa where bras remain too expensive to produce. The company is donating £1,000 to the breast cancer research charity for every tonne of bras collected, which is only 9,000 bras!
All ill fitting or unwanted bras deposited at a Bra Bank are whisked away to start a new life on the other side of the world, where traders support their families selling textiles locally.
Said Linda, ‘The cups are removed and the elastic and straps are replaced locally to give them a new lease of life. Having survived breast cancer myself I know how devastating it can be. By using unwanted bras in such a creative way it is great that we are helping to support others (no pun intended!) who may not even be able to afford a new bra, whilst helping the environment too.’