London based lingerie shop, So Shei has teamed up with HOTmilk, an international maternity and nursing lingerie label to celebrate their Knickers For Africa campaign.

“Sometimes we can take a lot for granted, from the roofs over our heads right down to the fact we own underwear,” says HOTmilk co-owner and co-designer Ange Crosbie. “When we heard that something as simple as undergarments had the possibility of giving young women in Zimbabwe a better chance to live a life free of sexual abuse, we knew that we wanted to help.”

The company is assisting former Zimbabwean Morag Roy, who returned to her home in Australia from a recent trip determined to help the local communities in Zimbabwe in a very unusual way.

Roy discovered that sexual abuse of young girls there was rampant, so she asked a local priest what the girls needed most to prevent it. “He told me that underwear gives a woman women prestige, shows they have money and means men are less likely to assault them,” says Roy. “I was amazed but when I flew back six months later with suitcases stuffed with bras, I saw first hand what a difference it made.”

During that trip Roy also found that most of the young girls and mothers there only had one ragged pair of knickers each, so they often wore none. “They also desperately need knickers, but I guess a Catholic priest wouldn’t have thought
about mentioning that!” she says.

So Shei are celebrating the Knickers for Africa campaign by inviting you for cupcakes on 7th April at 10am, South Molton Street, London.

Your quality second hand bra means a life free from sexual abuse in Zimbabwe – so take it to So Shei and do your bit for the Knickers for Africa campaign!