Total underwear collected 828,718

Congratulations to Kathryn Clubley, winner of the October lottery.

Thanks to everyone who has responded to our appeal for black pants, we’ve now received 1,870 pairs which is wonderful. But please keep them coming as we’re hoping to get around 3,000 pairs. As a reminder, we’re looking for black pants, sizes 8 to 10-12, in full brief, mini or high leg styles.

And thanks to those of you who use Easyfundraising and have chosen Smalls as your charity, we’ve received a cheque for £111.44 – thank you! Please remember us when you’re doing your Christmas shopping!

This month, we’ve supplied a further 650 pairs of pants to Days for Girls UK for their reusable feminine hygiene kits which will be distributed to various parts of Africa, and 200 pairs of pants to The Tumaini Fund who work with widows and orphans affected by HIV in Kagera, Tanzania. Our thanks also to Cathy Holden who will be taking 225 pairs of pants with her to Rukungiri (Uganda) as part of a volunteering holiday with Mission Direct. Cathy is part of our sorting team, and we look forward to hearing about her trip when she gets back.

For details of where all your donations go, please have a look at our underwear timeline.

A couple of years ago, Smalls took over an education programme in three villages in Malawi – paying the teachers, maintaining the schools and paying someone to oversee the programme. However, we’ve been keen to find a more sustainable solution that ensures the children continue to receive an education and be fed. I’m pleased to tell you that a longer-term solution to providing the children’s education needs has been found after reaching out to the local community and organisations in Malawi. We also have a commitment from Mary’s Meals that phala (porridge) will continue to be delivered to feed the children. Smalls will still provide underwear to Malawi and continue to have a small education programme supporting girls in Kenya.

For the last two and a half years, Smalls has been lucky enough to have occupied an empty warehouse in Kirkton Campus, Livingston, thanks to the generosity of Centric Community Projects. Sadly, the site is being sold and we’ll need to move out shortly. We’re therefore urgently looking for another commercial property developer or landlord who would like to benefit from the large tax break on business rates that our charity occupation can offer. This is a cost-effective and highly ethical way for large and small landlords and developers to temporarily reduce the burden of empty property costs and support a local charity. We’re looking for around 3,000-5,000 square feet in West Lothian. If you know of anyone who could help, please ask them to get in touch.

We’re indebted to everyone who donates underwear or money to support our work. Your kindness and generosity is hugely appreciated.

Maria