Girl guides seek to break world bra chain record

Media release – July 20, 2010  

Girl guides seeking to break world bra chain record
 
   New Zealand Girl Guides hope to stretch the world bra chain record of 166,000 bras end on end later this year.

   The guides have currently collected 14,500 bras and they have just over four months to find another 151,500 bras to beat the world record held by Australia.

   The event was started by the Dargaville Girl Guides and all the bras are being stored in a kumara packing shed near Dargaville.

   The world bra chain attempt is being organised by Dargaville guide leader Robyn Martinovich who said the call has gone out for all unwanted bras.

   Many of the 12,000 Girl Guides around New Zealand are helping to collect the bras which should stretch to 180km if they collect 166,000 for the world record in time for the final count in the last weekend of November.

  The record attempt aims to raise breast cancer awareness. All the best quality bras will be shipped to women in Africa, Haiti, the Pacific Islands and countries to help women and girls overseas.

   About 2500 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and more than 600 women die from breast cancer each year.

   Clothing store Postie is supporting the attempt and its 79 stores nationwide have3 become a collection point for the bras.

   ``We would love all of New Zealanders to get behind our world record attempt because more people die of breast cancer each year than those killed annually on our roads,’’ Girl Guiding chief executive Ruth Teasdale said today.

   A Wanaka event four years ago failed to break the then world record of 113,000 bras hooked end on end held by a group in Cyprus.

   Last year Bundaberg, a Queensland town more for its rum, set a world record for the longest chain of bras. More than 166,000 bras, measuring 163 kilometres, were laid out at the town's showgrounds, which measured 51km longer than the 2006 record in Cyprus.

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