Help Women’s Aid with its Christmas wish list

A group which supports women and children who have experienced domestic abuse is hoping members of the public can help with their Christmas wish list this year.

Perthshire Women’s Aid is collecting Christmas presents for women and children to make sure everyone they support can enjoy a present on Christmas Day.

A lot of the women the charity supports have had to flee their homes and are left with no money and no friends or family to support them during the festive period.

Liz Eadie, business support officer at Perthshire Women’s Aid, said:“We are asking for donations of toys and gifts for our women, such as toiletries sets, hats, scarves, gloves, pyjamas, housecoats - nice cosy things for the winter.

“We give them to the women we support as they might not receive anything on Christmas Day.

“A lot of them don’t have anything, particularly if they have fled.

“Some have had to come from the other side of the country and have no friends or family here, and lots of them keep their address a secret.

“And some of the kids like to get presents to give to their mums as well, because if we support the kid here, we also support the mother as well.”

Liz continued:“It is so important to show these women we care and they are supported.

“It is good to give them a bit of festive spirit because this can be such a difficult time of year if there has been a family breakdown.

“It is amazing how many people help us out with things like this and how much the community comes together.

“We would ask for new gifts though - we get a lot of offers of donations of old clothes and toys, but many of these women are already living on donations and have low self esteem, so it is so nice to give them something new and let them have some dignity.

“Last year we got enough toys to give a present to all of the children, but we really need more presents to give to the women we support.”

Items can be dropped off at the Perthshire Women’s Aid office on Perth’s Necessity Brae.

They will be collecting gifts from Monday, December 2 until Friday, December 13 between 10am and 4pm each day.