Bra Banks Rolled Out To Tackle Breast Cancer

Pictured - Cllr Paul Tilsley, Deputy leader of the City Council and Sharon Lea

By Ben Aulakh

Women in Birmingham are being encouraged to use their unwanted bra’s’ to help tackle breast cancer.


“Bra Banks,” launched at the city Climate Change Festival in June, have been launched at eleven locations across Birmingham.

The city-wide network of bra recycling banks – similar in concept to ones for paper, clothing or bottles – will support the environmentally-friendly action of recycling.

Ditched D-cups and collected C-cups will also be used to help support the efforts of Breast Friends – a Sutton Coldfield based charity supporting women with breast cancer.

Sharon Lea, Strategic Director for Environment and Culture at Birmingham City Council, said: “Today’s announcement represents a creative and effective step forward for the council’s recycling service.

Those that are collected are sold by local recycling firm BCR Global Textiles to traders in developing countries, helping support small scale market traders and giving women access to garments they may not otherwise be able to afford.

Sharon added, “It gives people another way to reuse unwanted items, which will divert waste away from landfill and benefit good causes both here and in the developing world.”

The benefits are then felt closer to home as the proceeds of the sales go to good causes in the UK such as the Breast Friends charity.

For every kilogramme of bras that are recycled, £1 will be donated to the charity, and in the last 12 months 500,000 bras have been collected by BCR – raising £29,000 for several charities in the process.

Sharoon went on, “This really captures the essence of sustainability and is another clear indication that the council is committed to working with partner organisations to make Birmingham green.”

Four of the banks are located at Sainsbury’s stores on the Castle Vale Retail Park, at Alcester Road South, on Frankley Beeches Road in Northfield, and on Chapel Lane in Selly Oak

They can also be found at Tesco supermarkets on Ridgeacre Road in Quinton, Coleshill Road in Hodge Hill, and Aston Lane, in Witton; as well as at Lidl, on Kings Road, Sutton Coldfield

The final three locations for the banks are the Cocks Moors Woods Leisure Centre and the Silver Street Pay & Display car park in Kings Heath, and at Four Oaks railway station car park.


Photograph from Birmingham Newsroom Photostream.