Oxford underwear shop donates sets to women in need

Sarah Jordan set up the underwear shop to help "make a difference"

An underwear shop is helping vulnerable women and children in the UK and Africa through a donation scheme.

Y.O.U Underwear uses a buy-one give-two model where every set of undergarments bought at their Oxford store means two pairs are donated to charity.

In June, the company hit its goal of donating 23,000 pairs of underwear by 2023 six months early.

More than 7,600 women and girls have received clean underwear thanks to the scheme, according to the shop.

'Take for granted'

The donation model was set up so that, when a pair of underwear is sold, a separate pair is donated to the charity, Smalls for All.

The organisation collects and distributes the underwear to vulnerable women and children across the UK and in Africa and the manufacturer, The Wandsworth Group, also matches the shop's donation.

Founder and CEO Sarah Jordan created the business after she visited Uganda in 2016 and was shocked by the number of people who did not have access to clean underwear.

"Underwear is something we take for granted but it is the first thing that you put on in the morning," she said. "If you don't have it, the impact is fundamental."

Ms Jordan said that trying to make a difference was "what gets me out the bed in the morning".

Y.O.U Underwear has separately donated 2,037 pairs of underwear to girls in the Maasai communities of Oloishobor and Olorgesailie.