About 80 women, men and children converged on a Grindelwald home on Saturday to fill more than 600 handbags in aid of efforts to address domestic violence.
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Share the Dignity’s ‘It’s in the Bag’ campaign relies on donated handbags to be dropped off at collection points to be filled with daily necessities such as toothbrushes and sanitary items. An individual handwritten note is included. The bags are donated to women’s shelters and charities.
This weekend, more than 80,000 bags were filled Australia wide.
Event organiser and Northern Share the Dignity team leader Tania Ranson said her goal of 600 was just to meet the demand in Launceston.
“I came on board last year to make one handbag and then they said there was no one in the North to do it, so I asked how many they wanted, which was 80, we’ve well exceeded that,” Mrs Ranson said.
Granddaughters, daughters, grandmothers, great aunties and nieces all worked to put the bags together.
“Doing it with your kids… starts a whole heap of conversations that we wouldn’t normally have,” she said.
Colleen Breheney works at Colony 47 looking at ways to reduce domestic violence, the organisation will receive 100 bags.
“When women leave, they leave with nothing. It means they only have the clothes they stand up in so that’s where Sharing the Dignity plays a vital role in giving women the items they need in a time of crisis,” she said.
“I understand what it does for the women. When they receive them and they see the words, they know that there are many other women who are on their side and helping and that is vitally important because it’s such a traumatic time for them.”
From next year, Colony 47 will also create children’s bags.
“When women leave they normally take their children too,” she said.
Mrs Ranson said all the women involved are “just volunteers” wanting to help other women in their own community.
“We love doing it,” she said.
Avis have donated a van for the delivering of the bags.