Pink, bold, and electrifying: Meet the Durham charity using underwear to empower women

Let’s Get Our Knickers in a Twist is a charity campaign founded by recent Durham graduate, Serena Chamberlain, which aims to empower women and tackle the issue of female underwear deficiencies. Serena was inspired to start her charity after she realised how underfunded so many women’s charities were, leaving nobody focused on the huge issue of underwear deficiencies. The campaign’s mission is to provide underwear to those in need, while also helping raise awareness about the critical yet often overlooked issue of providing underwear to vulnerable women.

Serena highlighted some of the challenges of having a female underwear orientated charity and the preconceptions about Let’s get Our Knickers In a Twist that she has faced. One of the biggest hurdles in setting up her campaign centred around the question – “what are pants going to do?”. But after speaking to Serena it is abundantly clear – pants really can change lives.

Having underwear readily available to us is something so many of us take for granted. It’s not just about the necessity of physical comfort and hygiene but also stands as a way to empower, a concept which is at the forefront of Serena’s ambitions. She stresses that while underwear can help us feel comfortable and secure, its ability to make us feel sexy and confident in our own bodies should also be celebrated. Serena recalls the preconceptions donors have: “Underwear donations have to be boring… no they don’t”.

Instead, she encourages people to donate all sizes and varieties of knickers, for every occasion, telling The Tab Durham: “We all know how good a new pair of pants can make us feel”.

Sadly, that hasn’t been the only hurdle, with some sponsorship opportunities asking to censor what I found to be the refreshingly “out there” and bold approach the campaign has adopted. While recognising that the way fundraising is done is different from so many charities out there, Serena emphasised how “that is what is important to make such an impact”. She admitted: “I know it is quite out there and there are a lot of bums involved”.

Unique to the campaign is the multiple Pants Parties put on all across the country. Dubbed by the founder as a “dual empowerment model” Serena explained how it is “not just about empowering the women we donate to, but also women and other marginalised women and sexualities”. Following the increase in spiking incidences across Durham, Serena took the opportunity to host an all-female event to not only fundraise and collect an amazing amount of underwear, but also create a “celebration of femininity in a safe space” for students.

From girl boss guests to boogying away the night to feminist anthems, fundraising is done in a fun and celebratory fashion. The “mo knickers, no entry” policy has proved a success in the drive to increase donations, with knickers collected from the parties being donated locally to where each party is hosted.

Recently launching their first Pants Party in Melbourne, Australia, Serena reflects on how incredibly proud she is to see her project grow.

Serena said: “Australia was amazing. That’s when it hit global”. But that’s not where the global initiative ends. Nearly 1,000 pairs of underwear have been sent to Ukraine so far, with plans to send more over the coming months once the logistics surrounding the aid blockages can be overcome.

Although there are already so many successes to celebrate, Serena doesn’t want to stop there. Having graduated in June, she is now taking on a full-time role dedicated to growing her fundraising ventures. Turning to securing some corporate social responsibility programmes, such as matching schemes with businesses and clothes companies is her main goal to help fund the project further and enable even more prolific growth and meaningful impact.

Images via Serena Chamberlain (Let’s Get Our Knickers in a Twist)

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