Handbags of help for refugees as local group lends its support

Members of Soroptimist International Crieff collected and filled 25 handbags with Christmas goodies for refugees in Glasgow.

They were taking part in an initiative called ‘ Helping Handbags’ and donated the items to the Maryhill Integration Network, which has been supporting asylum seekers and refugees since 2001.

However, once the bags were ready there was no way of delivering them due to the pandemic restrictions until Strath business Wild Hearth Bakery saved the day by offering to drop them off while on their delivery rounds in Glasgow.

Janice Wilson, SI Crieff’s programme action officer, told the Herald: “Scotland is warmly welcoming refugees and is playing a critical role in ensuring displaced families have a new place to call home and a chance to start over again.

“Scotland has a long history of welcoming refugees and asylum seekers who need a place of safety from many countries across the world.

“Every year, our busy Soroptimist club in Crieff collects items of

Christmas cheer to give to others. This year it was decided to give them to the Scottish Refugee Centre in Maryhill, Glasgow.

“Members collected handbags, scarves, toys and games, toiletries and clothes – all new – for 25 families. “Then came lockdown.

“However, help arrived in the form of Hamish Thomson and the Wild Hearth Bakery in Comrie.

“He agreed to take our Christmas bags packed into eight large cardboard boxes to Glasgow where they have now been distributed to the families.”