Residents of Stockland Green and the surrounding areas are being urged to donate their unwanted bras to raise money for cancer research charity – Against Breast Cancer.

A new bra bank can be found at the HighCroft Community Centre and is being championed by Mary Kennedy, Partnerships & Development Officer at The Pioneer Group, who explained:

One of our longstanding centre users has recovered from breast cancer, and we wanted to support research into this disease. This is a simple initiative where our residents can do good  on a number of different levels, as donated bras are reused in Africa, the charity receives funding for research and we hope to encourage more ladies to join in our other activities at the centre.

Highcroft Community Centre is being supported by Stockland Green Opportunity Housing and Training, (part of The Pioneer Group), whose ultimate aim is to bring about positive community regeneration.

The collection point can be found under the helium heart at the Highcroft Community Centre.

Highcroft Community Centre is keen on finding new ways to benefit charities without asking residents to donate money. With a number of women’s groups and exercise classes at the centre, the centre is targeting 500 bras.

For every tonne of bras donated, the charity receives £600 of funding.

The bra bank will help to raise funds for research into secondary spread breast cancer, which now affects 1 in 8 women in the UK. Highcroft Community Centre is asking residents to:

• Share news of the bra bank to as many people as you know.
• Gather together old and/or disused bras (in any condition) and deposit them in the box.

The same bras also help to support small businesses in Africa. Together with the charity’s recycling partners, the textile recovery project prevents these bras going into landfill, so helping the environment before giving them a new lease of life in developing countries such as Togo, Ghana and Kenya, where bras remain too expensive to produce locally.

Visit againstbreastcancer.org.uk for more information about what happens to the bras and how recycling them will help people on a number of different levels.