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Refugee Week Inspiring Women special: the Mardini Sisters

Jun 15, 2021

This week’s Inspiring Women’s piece is about Sarah and Yusra Mardini. The activist sisters came to Germany in 2015 having grown up in Damascus, Syria and after fleeing war in their home country, they travelled through Europe for a month, finally ending up in a refugee camp in Germany. Sarah, once a professional swimmer, is a cultural Mediator & Interpreter, an activist and volunteer as a search and rescue swimmer, having studied  International Relations and Art at Bard College in Berlin.

Yusra is an Olympic Swimmer, previously competing in Rio with the Refugee Olympic Athletes Team and recently having qualified for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, she is an activist and an author, and also serves as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugees Agency.


Words: Emma Fullerton

Interview: Sol Escobar

Illustration: Vivienne Leech

We deserve more

 

Before the conflict arose in Syria, Sarah describes life in Damascus as vibrantly multicultural, with peaceful coexistence and integration of all communities, during an interview with our founder, Sol, for Refugee Week 2020:

 

“I grew up in Damascus, there were no differences between anyone and everyone was welcome. Also Syria was well known for opening up their doors for so many refugees from so many countries… we were familiar with the migration in general… not so many people heard about it before, that Syria had refugees.”

 

As the situation in Syria deteriorated, the Mardini family lost their home and had to move to the countryside. Bombing around Damascus escalated alarmingly, hugely affecting Sarah and Yusra’s lives. Both sisters are trained as professional swimmers, coming from a swimming family, where their parents are swimming coaches. Attending swimming practice, which both sisters were deeply passionate about, became more and more difficult, with a bomb terrifyingly landing in the water during Yusra’s training. The human right to education and freedom from fear disappeared in war torn Syria and the sisters decided to make the journey to Europe.

 

“We couldn’t go to school, we couldn’t practice and we couldn’t leave the house and we thought we deserve more than that and we have the right to live in a safe place… and just dream about a better future. And that’s when we decided to leave… it didn’t happen just like that, it took us a couple of years to convince my father, because my family was completely against sending two young females by themselves to Europe. Then it happened quickly, in one week we had to pack everything….”

 

Packing our lives in one bag


Sarah describes the impossible dilemma of having to pack twenty years of her life into just a single backpack, and so both she and Yusra decided to leave with nothing and start again. The two young girls, only 17 and 19 at the time, were forced to leave their family in Syria, as their parents did not want to bring their eight-year-old sister on the boat.

 

The sisters were amongst some of the first to flee Syria, taking a flight from Damascus to Turkey via Lebanon. In Turkey they met with a smuggler, who explained the procedures and drove the sisters to İzmir. They spent four days on the shore as the boat they were supposed to leave on had been destroyed. Sarah explains, ‘as a female the struggle started there’, living as a young woman on the shore, without a shower, bathroom or any shelter.

 

After four days a boat arrived, ‘the same boat we use now, you see them a lot in the canals in Hamburg or in Amsterdam’.  The boat was designed for seven people, but the Mardini sisters boarded with 20 others, including a four-year-old child.

 

“And the famous story, that everyone knows, that the boat starts sinking. Me and my sister and other people, not just us, jumped in the water and together… we tried to pull the boat. And actually so many people, out of the people that jumped into the water didn’t know how to swim. We made it to Greece after 3.5 hours.”

 

“We thought “yay we made it to Europe” and the hard part of the journey was over, but then we realised it was just the beginning. It's a long story. If I want to stop in every country I will not finish even a day.”

 

There’s no safety

 

After making it to Greece the sisters travelled through Europe for a month, constantly facing challenges and discrimination. They were conflicted; needing to look out for their own safety, while also wanting to share their experiences: ‘you need to run for your safety, but at the same time you need to make people see you’re a human, look like them, and have the same background and the same stories’.

 

Sarah reflects on her journey and tries to draw on some positive experiences, highlighting her resilient and positivity:

 

“There were some very good times, some countries treated us very respectfully, Vienna for example, when we arrived to Germany as well. Other countries didn’t like us being around like Hungary and Serbia.”

 

“I’m not blaming them, it's politics and what you hear in the news. You’re familiar with your TV screen and politicians more than people who come into your country.”

 

Sarah and Yusra spent six to eight months in a refugee camp in Berlin. When asked about the difficulties faced in a refugee camp as a woman, Sarah described:

 

“I’m just going to say to you what we have in the refugee camps and you decide yourselves… there’s no bathroom, there’s no shower, well there is but it's communal so 13,000 people use it together.

 

“There’s no safety, there’s no healthcare, there’s no mental healthcare and no privacy…”

 

We are still waiting for a trial

 

The sisters continue to be haunted by political and social discrimination against refugees. Sarah was on her way home to Berlin to begin her studies, after volunteering in a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos in Greece, when she was apprehended at the airport. She was taken to the local police station, where she was held for hours, with her colleague, Sean, without any explanation. Finally, a lawyer arrived who told her they would be taken to court and had to speak in front of a judge. Everything was still vague and Sarah had no idea what was going on.

 

She was handcuffed to Sean, asked all kinds of questions and accused of multiple charges. Sarah, Sean, the founder of the team and other volunteers were accused of ‘being part of criminal organisation, money laundering, smuggling, trafficking, espionage, and recently they add fraud’.

 

They were detained for three and a half months, and had to shut down the organisation, which was essential in providing support to refugees, as everyone organising the team was behind bars, while the volunteers were terrified.

 

Sarah describes the case as ‘ridiculous’, with the whole thing beginning because those prosecuting the case believed that refugees were coming to the country purely because they ‘believe that someone is standing on the shoreline to give them water’. When the Mardini sisters travelled to Europe they, and other refugees, had little idea of the situation to which awaited them.

 

The case commenced on 21 August 2018, and (as of 2021) they are still awaiting trial:

 

“We are still waiting for a trial. Unfortunately the whole situation is political, they didn’t really care who I was or Sean was… Its frustrating because I’m 24 years old and I have to go to college, and at the end of the day I have to figure out how I’m going to pay 40,000 euros for a case, me and Sean. It’s worse because I left because I couldn’t do the same at home… and I come to Europe and it's the same situation again!”

 

We cannot walk alone

 

The life of the Mardini sisters perfectly reflects the theme of this year’s refugee week: ‘we cannot walk alone’. Sarah and Yusra are inspiring activists. Both sisters use their talents and passions to uphold and protect the rights of others and support the refugee community; from keeping the boat of refugees afloat, the moment they left Syria, to educating the public, to their work now, as a search and rescue swimmer, and as a UN Goodwill Ambassador, respectively.

 

Sarah’s activism began ‘by coincidence’ on route to the Olympic games, to support her sister on her trip. Sarah travelled to Greece to volunteer at a refugee camp, giving the children swimming lessons and working with psychologists to help to change their psychology surrounding water. She realised she has so much potential and so much to offer: ‘I speak the language, I am a search and rescue swimmer and a lifeguard, a professional swimmer, so I can give a lot of help there’. Two weeks in Greece turned into a two-and-a-half year journey between Berlin and Lesbos.

 

Following time in Greece, Sarah’s activism took a different path, when she realised that  ‘to change something on the ground I need to educate myself more about the situation. I have the experience but I don’t have the theoretical or academic way to describe it so I can convince someone who is sometimes hard to talk to’.

 

Both sisters are also active on social media, on Instagram and Twitter, sharing information they receive from refugees, translating or sharing news articles. Sarah says they feel ‘it was kind of our job, whoever was there, to keep notifying, there were still boats, there were still people arriving’, especially when people and media stopped following this in the mainstream news.

 

By sharing their own stories, the Mardini sisters have become powerful voices for global refugee communities and are an excellent example of resilience and determination.

 

We stand up, we try again and we continue

 

In the future, Sarah foresees her future as an activist, working overseas, continuing to support the rights of refugee communities. Yusra has recently qualified to compete  in her second Olympics (this time Tokyo 2021) as part of the Refugee Olympic Team, she has also published a book called Butterfly: from Refugee to Olympian, and continues on her journey as an activist and the youngest ever appointed UN Goodwill Ambassador. Both sisters continue to educate and inspire, focusing on the importance of holding humanity and kindness central when facing challenges and connecting with others.

 

Yusra continues to advocate for refugees and share her inspiring story, from war torn Syria to the Olympic games in Rio and Tokyo, to show support and give hope to those facing similar circumstances as the Mardini sisters:

 

“I want to tell my story… I thought my story could be something that helps people at the moment in these hard times. I'm using it to motivate them… to give them a reason to continue on to dream again and to know that if you have a downfall, that doesn't mean it's the end of the way.

 

“No, we stand up. We try again and we continue.”

 

From Sarah’s perspective an important step in helping refugees is for governments to open the borders. For individuals she emphasises the importance of political activism: 

 

“Whenever there are elections coming soon, campaigns or anything political, we need to make sure that we advocating to our families and friends and surroundings that voting is important.”

 

Sarah also highlights that volunteering and helping to make a positive difference can happen in any way. She describes her varied activism, including speeches, social media, volunteering teaching English in Berlin, teaching swimming in Lesbos, and as a search and rescue swimmer.

 

“It’s just whatever you can offer, skills, you can just go for it!”

 

Sarah is humble about her activism and reminds of the importance of a basic humanity, which she shows people, who are carrying out the same journey she has undertaken. For her, the best part of activism is the fundamental human connection:

 

“I don’t think I achieved anything that any human cannot really achieve. I think for me one of the best moments I love about being an activist, I have the opportunity to see things from another perspective, and also make someone feel as a human for five minutes.”

 

The Swimmers, the life story of the Mardini sisters, is currently in production by Netflix and due to release in 2022

 

Further resources:

 

To learn more about Sarah and her work:

·  Instagram @sarahmardini_x

 

To learn more about Yusra and her work:

·  Instagram @mardiniysra

·  Read Butterfly: From Refugee to Olympian, My Story of Rescue, Hope and Triumph (2018) by Yusra Mardini

·  Website https://yusramardini.com/

 

- The Swimmers will be previewing on Netflix in 2022, and tells the story of Yusra and Sarah Mardini’s journey as refugees from war-torn Syria all the way to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

 

-  Bard College Berlin have a refugee programme, which provides scholarships to 8 refugees every year

 

 

Sources:

 

Interview of Sarah Mardini, by Give Your Best Founder, Sol Escobar, as part of Refugee week, held by the Cambridge Assessment Refugee Support Committee in collaboration with Women in Leadership Network: https://ca.bbcollab.com/collab/ui/session/playback/load/3a54fd6d1fdb42b8b48697aac149ecf2

 

UNHCR, ‘Yusra Mardini’ at https://www.unhcr.org/yusra-mardini.html

 

Olympics News, ‘Yusra Mardini exclusive’ at https://olympics.com/en/news/yusra-mardini-exclusive-refugees-tokyo

 

Amnesty International , ‘Demand the charges against Sarah and Seán are dropped’ at https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/take-action/w4r-2019-greece-sean-binder-and-sarah-mardini/

by Soledad Escobar • 15 Apr, 2024
Last month marked a watershed moment in Give Your Best history — we went to Parliament! Alongside Baroness Hayman of Ullock, we hosted a roundtable discussion in the House of Lords on clothing poverty and fashion industry waste to a room of MPs, fashion brands, activists, and journalists from outlets including Vogue and Business of Fashion. Our goal? To better understand the biggest hurdles fashion brands face with their clothing waste so we can create solutions that clothe as many people in need as possible. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, not really. Clothing poverty is a huge issue in the UK. According to a 2021 Sharewear study, an estimated 5.5 million people are currently experiencing clothing poverty in the UK (which means when they are unable to buy two or more pieces of essential clothing). That’s almost 13% percent of the population and Covid-19 only made matters worse. Oxfam saw its online orders increase by 111% in 2020 compared to the same month the previous year, while clothing prices continue to rise. Why then, when there are so many people in need, does the UK continue to send an estimated 23 million garments to landfills each year? Why is 25% of global fashion waste incinerated? Why do most of us have closets full of clothes we don’t wear? And why are we still conditioned to consume, consume, consume by an industry characterized by overproduction but offered no real responsible way to dispose, dispose, dispose? It’s a mess, to put it bluntly. But change is coming. And we’re part of it, as are you. Over the coming months, we’ll be diving deeper into the work that goes on behind the scenes at GYB and the changes we’re hustling to make. Until then, here are the four main takeaways from our roundtable discussion that we think are important to share with you. We Need to Talk More About Clothing Waste & Poverty There is still widespread mis- or lack of understanding of what constitutes clothing waste and how huge the impact of this waste is. Additionally, the level of clothing poverty experienced in the UK, as outlined above, is rarely discussed. At Give Your Best, we’re always asking: Why, when fashion always talks about “reuse, recycle, repurpose,” is redistribution always left out of the conversation? And, more to the point, as Mother of Pearl’s creative director Amy Powney queried, Why does clothing poverty persist in the UK at all? In addition to discussing the need for taxation, Powney proposed introducing clothing education in schools, which would help to shift perspectives and understanding as well as drive action. The UK Is Lagggggging Behind EU Regulations As anti-greenwashing and responsible production legislation shifts across the EU, countries are implementing laws that require brands to take EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) very seriously. They will become fully responsible for the entire lifecycle of textiles and there are large penalties for non-compliance. France, for example, is currently writing in a €10 per fast fashion item tax which will be fully actioned by 2030. In the UK however, as Fashion Roundtable founder Tamara Cincik pointed out, there haven’t been any significant governmental conversations about EPR. Taking action here is paramount. Mental Health Impacts of Clothing Poverty Are Monumental The mental and social impact of clothing poverty is profound. Our guest, fashion psychologist Dr Dion Terrelonge, highlighted many devastating consequences of clothing poverty including negative impacts on education, employment, and social integration. A lack of access to clothing (particularly to clothing that you have chosen yourself) adversely impacts mental health, self-esteem, dignity, and confidence. In other words, all levels of well-being and self-actualization are negatively affected by clothing poverty. During the roundtable, our spokeswoman Kemi Ogunlana shared how having access to clothing and choice through the Give Your Best platform not only gave her dignity but made her feel like a “whole person and not just the sum of [her] problems.” Collaboration Is Key There is no one-size-fits-all solution here. Working together is vital if we’re going to make a positive impact — to stop overproduction and modern slavery and clothe people in need. The government will benefit from working with fashion brands, retailers, and NGOs like Give Your Best to understand the biggest hurdles and help us implement actionable solutions, while industry players will benefit from having solutions to choose from that enable them to produce (and dispose) responsibly. As the saying goes, we’re better together. As always, if you have anything to add or would like to work with us, please get in touch! We’d love to hear from you: partnerships@giveyourbest.uk

A Big Thank You from a member of our community

by Sahresh • 19 Oct, 2022
First of all to the whole team of volunteers (You are amazing) I met all and felt love and warmth. Sol is a star, she hugged me and my son when I met her first time that melted my heart. A big Thank you to all the donors without them nothing could have happened. I came to UK from a warm country with my two year old child, in my bag I just had his nappies, some formula milk and few clothes for him. I was not prepared for the harsh weather not even for my son. I was wearing slippers when I arrived. I never experienced the cold weather before, I used to get very stressed about having to buy so many things for my self and for my son to keep us warm in the cold winter. I had no money and my weekly allowance from home office was not sufficient even for the necessities. On the internet I got to know about Give Your Best, I contacted them and they helped me with my warm shoes, gloves, hat jacket, socks everything. As I have to walk every place to avoid the travel cost that helped me to keep me warm in the winter and I felt at ease that at least one of my difficulties was resolved and I am not cold anymore and I can go out without worrying about feeling cold or my child get cold and get sick. GYB helped me with my journey at University, when I got a scholarship to do my Masters. Amazing team equipped me with data, laptop and right equipment to do my research. They were always there for me in any challenge I was facing in this new country. I felt so confident and not any less when I got dressed up with beautiful clothes and footwear to go to my university. I felt confident and included, not excluded. People couldn't judge me on my looks as I always wear good clothes. I could not have afford it otherwise all these dresses, shirts, pants and shoes if it was not donated to me by the generous donors. I felt welcome by the sweet notes I got with my parcels. Sometime they send me chocolate, tea or face mask, the make me smile and feel so good and was thankful for the people who feel for refugees and asylum seekers. People here in UK are very generous they are caring and loving. Beautiful People. Thank you so very much for all the efforts. Love affection and care, SK

How to tackle a wardrobe clear out

04 May, 2022
If your cupboard doors are fit to burst, you wear only a fraction of your wardrobe, or you just no longer feel like the pieces you have are working for you as well as they could do, then a wardrobe clear out could be on the cards. So often, our default response to falling out of love with the clothes we own is to buy new ones, but we forget a key step before that: assessing what we have already, and seeing if it’s still fit for purpose! But, like so many things in life – a wardrobe clear out is easy to say, but much harder to do. Our clothes can be deeply emotional, and represent so much (which is one of the reasons why Give Your Best was founded). So how do you go about sorting through your wardrobe? What questions do you ask yourself? How do you know what to keep, and what to chuck? And who better to ask than the experts? We asked two brilliant stylists, Leti Marsola, EcoStylist and founder of Outfit From The Heart , and Neelam, founder of Neelam Personal Stylist (who very kindly donated a prize to our recent International Women’s Day auction) for their expert advice on performing a wardrobe clear out. Drum roll please… Before you start your wardrobe clear out, work out what you want from your clothes Before the wardrobe clear commences, you need to work out what you’re looking for: your own personal style, if you will. Leti explains: “Personal style is simply the way we dress. If you wear clothes, you have your styles, even if you choose your daily clothes without a specific purpose. When we are conscious about what we wear, that’s when we use clothes as a tool to communicate who we are and why we chose that specific outfit.” Neelam calls these your style foundations. Get to know them with questions such as: “what is your body shape and what styles suit it? What colour season are you and which colours will make you look your best? What is your style personality and what impression do you want to give to the world?” Leti also recommends, “The next thing to do is understand your routine, your reality. Wear clothes that will keep up with your daily activities and adapt your preferences to it. For instance, if, for some reason, you don’t party as much as you did some years ago, it doesn’t make sense to have a wardrobe full of night out dresses. Think about the style of your favourite dresses, and replicate some of the features to items that fit your current lifestyle. It can be a type of fabric, a neck style you can replicate in a top…” It’s also important to “wear clothes for your current body. A sense of style has nothing to do with the size in the label. It has to do with clothes that give room to be comfy, it has to do with fits and cuts. Dressing the parts of your body that you love will help to focus and be kind to your body.” Armed with this knowledge, let the wardrobe clear out commence So, now you’ve got a better idea of what you’re looking for, it’s time to take this knowledge into your wardrobe clear out. As well as keeping your style foundations at the forefront, Neelam suggests asking yourself these questions as you sort through each item. “Have I worn this item in the last 2 years? Can I build multiple outfits from this item across seasons and occasions? Would I buy this item in the shop now?” Leti also suggests considering these: “Why did I buy it? Why am I keeping it? Does it fit me?” Slowly but surely, these will help you work your way through your clothes and sort them into piles. As the piles grow larger, the weight on your shoulders will grow lighter! In an ideal world, of course, these piles would be “Keep” and “Give Away” (well, in an ideal world, we’d love that to be “Give to Give Your Best”! You can read more about how to add your items to our free shop for refugees, those seeking asylum, or with a precarious immigration status, here .) However, there may also be items that don’t neatly fit into either category. “If you have some items that are hard to part with, find storage away from view so you leave more space in your wardrobe.” Leti suggests. “This way, you keep it organised and it’s much easier to build outfits! Plus, if you have an item you love and think it can be converted or altered to something else, by all means hire a seamstress.” Neelam also points to how a little TLC can totally reinvigorate an item. “Could it do with a little freshening like pressing or dry cleaning to make me love it again?” she asks. What are the next steps after a wardrobe clear out? So, you’ve worked out your style. You’ve worked out your pile(s). What next? What to do with the clothes you’re keeping Whether you’re left with the majority of your clothes or you’ve really whittled down the numbers, it’s important to keep taking care of them so that they can have a long and happy life with you. “Remember to love your clothing by storing and caring for it properly,” Neelam says. “This can definitely prolong the life cycle of a product. Think about how you fold/hang the item, how you wash it and dry it etc.” And where you store them matters, too. “Find a system of organisation that suits you. It can be organised by colour, by occasion…” Leti says. And, also: have fun with it! Neelam says “As you declutter, get creative to see how you can build new outfits with the pieces you already own. You’ll be surprised how many outfits can be made from just a few staple pieces!” What to do with the clothes you’re getting rid of Of course, if the clothes you’re getting rid of are in great condition, we’d love them here at Give Your Best. Once added to our catalogue, they’re available for asylum seeking and refugee women and non-binary people in the UK to shop, helping empower them and restore the dignity they deserve to have. Alternatively, if the clothes are heavily worn, then you can check out our post here for what you could do instead. Hopefully the prospect of a wardrobe clear out doesn’t feel so terrifying now. Armed with Leti and Neelam’s expert tips and questions, you can create and curate your wardrobe to suit you. Less time stood in front of your wardrobe scratching your head, less nights spent fretting about what to wear in the morning, with your items going to very good homes where they’re not forgotten about nor taken for granted? Seems like a total win win!

So, how can you help refugees?

25 Mar, 2022
As we look at the news every day and see it flooded with stories of loss, hardship, and sadness, it can be easy to lose yourself to feeling down about it. However, there is a huge range of things anyone can do to help those seeking refuge and seeking asylum across the world from their own doorstep. Campaign The fight for refugee rights in the UK is far from over, and unfortunately cannot be solely fixed by donations from the generous few. Legislation in this country has been designed to systemically prevent refugees and migrants from making a home in the UK, and it must be counter-acted. Keeping up to date on protests and any demonstrations happening in your area, and joining in to make your voice heard can help bring attention to issues that refugees face. There are a number of resources to help you find local groups supporting the cause in your city, such as: • The Anti-Raids Network – A network of local groups who tackle immigration raids across the capital • Migrants Rights Network – A charity that works with mirgants and refugees to help them seek justice • Watch The Channel – A group who monitor the English & French border control teams to ensure that they help people in distress If you’re still at a loss at how you can campaign to help refugees, it can also be as simple as sharing information on social media by sharing posts from refugee-focused charities, like Give Your Best! Donate Donations don’t just have to be financial. Warm clothes, tinned food and basic necessities can be dropped off at donation points across the country, and a little can always go a long way! There are so many different charities that help distribute items where needed across the world. Distribute Aid , for example, do mass lorry load shipments to refugees in Italy, Calais, Bosnia, Lebanon and so many more. In fact, last year the organisation donated aid that was valued at $2 million. Care4Calais also do amazing work for refugees across the world. The organisation has a handy drop-off map available on their website, so you can find out exactly where to take your donations that will make a difference. Care4Calais take your donations not only to Calais, but directly to refugees in hotels and accommodation across Britain. Give while you shop Our whole lives being moved online can be annoying and confusing. However, it does mean that you can give to charities that help refugees without lifting a finger! Ordering a last-minute purchase from Amazon? Well, if you sign in through Amazon Smile , then Amazon will donate to a charity of your choice for every purchase you make. Simply sign in and select any refugee charity such as Refugee Council as your chosen charity, and for every purchase you make Amazon will donate a percentage of the net price. It isn’t just your last-minute gift buying that could help refugees, but your weekly food shop too! Give As You Live are an organisation similar to Amazon Smile, as they will donate a percentage of your online shopping at Sainsbury’s, eBay and more will go towards the charity. You can even login and see how many donations you have made to the charity over time! From your streets, just down the road or your very own sofa – everyone can help refugees across the world.

Inspiring Women: A Conversation with Sol, Founder of Give Your Best

10 Nov, 2021
To celebrate Give Your Best turning one last month, we spoke to Give Your Best’s founder, the amazing Sol! While Sol, like many of the women in our community, has lived in and travelled through many countries, she has always been outraged by the fact that her journey to the UK is seen as an ‘adventure’, whereas people who have had to flee for their lives are often viewed (or portrayed by some media outlets) as criminal. With a strong passion for supporting and raising awareness of refugees’ experiences, combined with frustration about in-person relief coming to a stand-still last year, Sol developed the idea of Give Your Best. Read more to learn more about her story, how GYB all started, and Sol’s reflections on the past year!

Inspiring Women: A Conversation with S.

31 Aug, 2021
In the face of extremely challenging situations, Give Your Best’s volunteer, S, has shown incredible strength and resolve. After experiencing ostracisation from her community and threats to her safety, S left an abusive forced marriage and travelled with her young son to seek asylum in the UK, where she was placed in a detention centre. Thankfully, S is now safe and is living somewhere with her son where she feels settled. She has recently been awarded a Universities of Sanctuary scholarship to study Peace Building and Conflict Resolution starting this year. Her dream is to share her story at the UN to work to identify solutions and act as a positive female role model for women who have faced similar challenges. S feels it is imp ortant that others engage with and understand people’s own journeys and stories, as she believes this can help build awareness and empathy for others. Interview: Lauren Porter Editing: Anna Kerby

The cost of your donated clothing

05 Aug, 2021
Lockdown wardrobe clearouts Many of us have experienced what it is to be truly bored during this pandemic. Banana bread has been baked, walking routes are well trodden, and Google searches for, ‘what to do during lockdown’ have been exhausted. If you’re like me, you have finally cleared out your wardrobe, something that you have been meaning to get around to for years but have always put off for one reason or other. Last summer, WRAP (2020) - a charity that works with governments and businesses across six countries to address resource sustainability issues - reported that one in five people in the UK cleared out their wardrobe during the first lockdown. WRAP expected this to result in 67 million items of clothing being thrown away or donated. This doesn’t include shoes or items such as bedding, which points to the extent of the rate at which we discard clothes in the UK. As grateful as we can be to Marie Kondo for encouraging us to keep only what sparks joy, what happens to items we’ve deemed joyless? It’s unlikely that all 67+ million items of clothing would be sold successfully in normal conditions, let alone in a pandemic. Most of us can probably remember a time when some of the clothes we’ve slogged to a charity shop have been so questionable that we’ve wondered whether they ever would have actually sold. I’d also be the first to admit that it’s only been in the last few years that I’ve started to think about what happens to the clothes that don’t sell. The costs of donating carelessly Unfortunately, charity shops don’t have a magic wand that can make unwanted clothes turn back into cotton, water or reusable polyester. Donating items that charities can’t use or are unlikely to sell can create a big carbon footprint. Working in a donations warehouse in Calais, I saw piles of boxes of unsuitable clothes waiting to be sent to charities overseas because there simply wasn’t room to store them in Calais. There were enough boxes to fill several large vans. Friends of mine who have worked in charity shops in the UK reported similar experiences: they were told that if the donations could not be sold in a charity ship in a different UK location, the clothes would be shipped abroad. They didn’t know exactly what happens to these clothes once sent abroad, but expected that they’re either donated again to overseas charities or, in the worst case, end up in landfills. The hope is that as many clothes as possible will be resold or recycled, but the pace of fast fashion casts a gloomy light on this. Although the majority of people may donate clothes with good intentions, donating carelessly can have damaging impacts. The air miles clothes consume are enough to make any influencer in lockdown more than a little jealous. In 2019, The Guardian reported that one in three young women label clothes as ‘old’ if they have been worn once or twice. It also reports that 300,000 tonnes of textiles were sent to be burned or dumped in a landfill in 2018. This is before we get to the direct human costs of fast fashion; from the burden it places on charity workers who have to sift through thousands of items of clothes, to the tragedy of events such as the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh. Sorting through huge piles of clothes in Calais made me think more about how we donate in the UK. Would someone else buy what I donate? Would my donation provide someone with dignity and respect? If not, if the clothes aren’t wanted by me or the intended recipient, what will happen to them? It may not be that we can always donate or repurpose clothes. Sometimes, they have met their end. What we can do, however, is think about their lifecycle when we decide to do a clearout and, even more importantly, when we go to buy an item. Going forward, let’s think about the lifecycle of clothes and fight our boredom by getting creative with what we can do with unwanted items. What can you do? Give Your Best! Think about what you’re donating - does the charity list it as a needed item on their website? If you’re donating it to a charity shop, would someone actually buy it? Can you make sure the clothes are washed before you donate them so the charity doesn’t have to? Get it tailored or fixed. Before throwing it away or donating it, think about whether you could fix the item or get it tailored to fit you better. You could also turn your clothes into something new and completely different, such as turning a dress into a top, jeans into shorts, or making cushion covers, patchwork, or even just using them as cleaning cloths. Swap with a friend. Is there something in your friend’s wardrobe that you’ve been eyeing up? Maybe they’d like the item you’re going to donate - you could consider gifting it to them or doing a swap if you want to get something back! Shop as sustainably as possible. This can be difficult on a budget, but it’s worth thinking about how long the clothes will last. When you take that into consideration, it may be that spending a bit more - especially on things like sportswear - will save you money in the long run. This way, we can reduce the amount of clothing that charities have to throw away, making the lifecycle of clothes more sustainable.

Inspiring Women: A Conversation with Basma

23 Jun, 2021
This Inspiring Women piece follows World Refugee Day and Refugee Week when we celebrate the achievements, contributions and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. We hear from one of our wonderful volunteers, Basma, who is a 28-year-old refugee from Egypt and a survivor of female genital mutilation (FGM) and who sought asylum in the UK just before the start of the pandemic. The theme of this year’s Refugee Week is ‘We Cannot Walk Alone’. In our conversation with Basma, we hear about the importance of those who are refugees or seeking asylum sharing their experiences and how this can make others in similar situations feel less alone. Interviewer and writer: Lauren Porter Editor: Anna Kirby

Inspiring Women: Lara

25 May, 2021
Inspiring Women: Lara

Inspiring Women: A Conversation with Ilda

06 May, 2021
In this week’s Inspiring Women’s piece, we speak to Ilda*, who was the catalyst behind the setting up of Give Your Best! Ilda has been seeking asylum in the UK for over five years and as well as being instrumental in the start up of Give Your Best, she has also set up her own Instagram account where she shares her own experiences of seeking asylum in the UK and provides advice to people in similar situations. *Not her real name 2022 Update: Ilda has now received her leave to remain and had a baby! Interviewer and writer: Lauren Porter Editor: Harri Welch Illustrator: Kiera O'Brian
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