• Women appreciate the common dignity of a bra for business or social occasions.

• In humid climates rashes, fungal infections and abscesses occur between the breast and the chest wall. Bras help by allowing air circulation. Bras control breast swing when women bend to garden or cook at ground level.

• Nursing mums everywhere leak, and bras allow the dignity of a dry shirt, and the comfort of support. A thrush rash on a mother's skin may spread to her baby's mouth, and then back into the breast itself.

• A mastectomy bra offers privacy about the problem.

The list goes on and if you are a woman, you will definitely know that a bra gives you confidence and comfort!

"In the Solomon Islands it is quite difficult to access a comfortable bra. Some of the second hand shops sell bras but mostly women have to buy their bras from the Chinese Trade Stores. These bras have some problems; they come in smaller sizes, are made of nylon and perish quickly in tropical conditions. You cannot buy maternity bras or mastectomy bras in country. For the women to be given free bras is an unbelievable experience for all of them. Women feel a tremendous obligation to meet the needs of their families, and so for any woman in the village to spend money buying a bra for herself can almost be seen as an unforgivable sin. The priority for women's spending is food and education needs of children."
— Rose Wale, 2012, Report of Bra Distribution, Solomon Islands.

The original Uplift Bra Project was initiated in 2004 in Australia by Liz Baker.  Unfortunately the Australian chapter closed in 2020 but we are continuing on Liz's good work in New Zealand.  Although in the past, Project Uplift has sent bras as far as the Philippines, Bali, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Botswana, Uganda and Pakistan, from New Zealand we currently send mainly to the Pacific Islands, in particular Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Samoa.  We also distribute bras to women and girls in need in New Zealand, through health and community groups and high schools in disadvantaged areas.  We try to ensure that bras get to the women who need them without compromising their dignity. 

Pauline Watson began coordinating Project Uplift's bra recycling in New Zealand in 2012 and has appeared on TV1 Good Sorts, been interviewed countless times on radio, featured in magazines and newspapers, and has visited Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu several times to deliver and fit bras to ladies in need.

Juliet Campbell in Auckland took over as National Coordinator when Pauline retired at the end of 2021.