THE SHOPPING EVENT OF THE YEAR WITH 'WOMEN FOR WOMEN'

We all love a good car boot sale, with that feeling of those unknown gems you might find after a good hunt. However, imagine if you knew that every boot would be filled with gems and that with the money you spent it would go to a good cause? Well, that said car boot sale is held once a year and is in aid of the charity ‘women for women’ titled ‘She Inspires me’. Women for women is a fantastic charity that was created by Zainab Salbi at the age of 23 after hearing of the atrsities women had to face during and after the Bosniian war in 92-95 where an estimated 50,000 Bosnian women were subjected to rape as a weapon of war. Thousands more witnessed the killing of loved ones and destruction of their homes, and were left struggling to provide and care for their families whilst dealing with severe trauma. Survivors said that they felt invisible, that the world had forgotten about them, that no-one cared.   And thats when Zainab created a ‘sister-to-sister’ connection between isolated women in Bosnia and individual ‘sponsor sisters’ around the world.

A letter exchange provided these Bosnian women with solidarity and emotional support, along with small amounts of financial aid to help them meet their basic needs as they began to rebuild their lives.

To this day, their approach remains inspired by this spirit of sisterhood, and the combination of social and economic investment and have gone on to support over half a million women across 8 conflict-affected countries to overcome the horrors of war and work towards a better future for themselves and their families.

So the ‘She Inspires’ me car boot sales raises funds to help these women faced with war so it’s shopping with a conscience. The list of celebrities, designers and stylists is endless from Jimmy Choo hosting a boot (no pun intended) where I picked up a beautiful pair of heels for £100 to mini Rodini for the kids to Frame Jeans and more.

Housed in the Selfridges car park it was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday with cakes provided by Lola Cupcakes to Selfridges hosting a tombola where we won an amazing hamper and some Gin. My daughter, who is 11, came along and she had as much fun as we did browsing the stalls and picking up some bargains. At the end of the day they raised over £240,000, which is pretty impressive and will help a lot of women!

Go to www.womenforwomen.org.uk to find out more about the charity and to put next years car boot in your diary as it really is the fashion event of the year!

Words by Kylie Olsson