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Press release material is available from the national coordinator.
Publicity rarely goes wrong, but one conversation with a Consul is enough in a lifetime, so may we ask:
If lifting material from our website:
Please do not reproduce the press articles/photos from our website without copyright permission from the authors. Someone copied The Age's photo onto her blog, and also lifted pictures from our site without checking with us.
In indigenous Fijian culture it is not acceptable to view pictures of a person who has passed away. Images will be removed from our site as necessary, we have lost one lady already.
Text read throughs.
Before anything goes to press, the national coordinator, or the relevant state coordinator if appropriate, should have a "read through", where the journalist reads the text to us, and we can request changes. This is standard journalistic practice, not an onerous request.
We will scan for inadvertent misrepresentation of:
National/large group promotion notification.
If planning any large or national promotion, please let us know. Such promotions can create a big workload for our volunteer coordinators, most of whom have full time jobs too, and if 2 or 3 hit simultaneously we can get a bit snowed under.
Photos are wonderful to thank donors and to show we do what we say we do. Consent is required if photos are to be used in print/TV/internet applications. A 1 megabyte file is the minimum for print media, a bigger file allows cropping.
In donor countries:
Photos of sorting and packing events are good website and media fodder.
In recipient countries:
Modesty standards in the Pacific are more stringent than in Australia. Please no photos of women in underwear. As a photo rule of thumb, if you wouldn't appear in it on the internet, don't take it.
Suggested suitable photos include:
Donors usually do before donating, and recipients do before wearing. Once the numbers build up,( and they will,) the water and time involved are prohibitive.
As a general rule, only send a bra if you could look someone in the eye as you handed it over. A few new bras in a box of second hand is generally not a problem.
Nursing bras - These have no underwires, and have clips at the top or midpoint of the cup. These boxes often go to hospitals.
size 18+ relativley rare, we don't send them to places with small women.
Size 8-16
Size 18+
Mastectomy bras - have a pocket lining the entire cup which will hold the prosthesis. Rare, but needed.
Swimwear - this goes to coastal women who stand in the water for hours and fish to feed their family, or who dive for octopus or beche de mere for a living.
What to do with:
Underpants,socks, bodysuits etc. We always get them! New underpants & useable socks can be added to a box of similar size bras. Used underpants, bodysuits, torsolettes & bedroom lingerie should be thrown out.
Strapless bras put in with correct size if straps are available.
Bras needing repair are low priority. Good quality ones can be easily repaired with a needle & thread only go in, and others may used for shoulder straps for the strapless, and to make strap extenders.
Set out a line of cardboard boxes, labelled with the categories.
May we suggest you find a size 18 with a readable tag, and fold it in half at centre front, and lay it out on its "side". Just use it is a rough measuring device, if any bra is that size or bigger, toss it in the 18+ box. Once bras stretch a bit the effective size warps a little.
The fastest way to sort is by underwire - if a bra doesn't have one, check for nursing bra clips. If it does, after sorting a few you'll get a sense of the size of a 16 underwire versus a 20, cutting down the number of bras to be "measured".
It is tempting to toss in other personal items for women, like perfume or jewellery etc. but these may break, and if not declared on a packing label may cause trouble with Customs.
If possible, please include a bra fitting instruction sheet in each box.
Please use no packaging materials that are not bio-degradable. We are stuck with packing tape, sadly. There is no rubbish disposal system in many places. For ease of handling, please keep box sizes to apple/pear box size, which hold about 80 bras each. Pharmacies have useful size boxes to get rid of too.
We need to label each box with number of bras (roughly), type ( 8-18, 18+, Nursing, swimwear) and second hand or new.
Please label both ends of each box so they can be read in warehouse /storage situations
Thick texta is best, and big writing with a double circle around the writing. If you have to use a paper label (too much print on the box end) packing tape around all 4 sides of the label is the only way to avoid tearing/label loss when boxes rub together in transit.