College continues support for Love Grace handbag appeal

Barnsley College’s Learning for Living and Work Department is heading up another collection of handbags for the Love Grace charity, and staff have collected more than 40 so far.

The Love Grace handbag appeal is a charity campaign set up in memory of 21-year-old Grace Millane who was tragically murdered whilst travelling in New Zealand in 2018. The campaign combines Grace’s love of handbags with a legacy in her name to end violence towards women.

Head of Catering Services at Barnsley College, Martyn Hollingsworth, whose niece was friends with Grace at university, originally started the College’s collection for the charity along with Head of Learning for Living and Work, Nicola Thomson-Dewey.

The College collection, which has seen more than 250 bags donated since it began, is asking for donations of new or used handbags, either on their own or filled with useful items, or just the items on their own, for women who have been affected by domestic violence.

Donations can be dropped off from 8.00am to 2.00pm, Monday to Friday, at Crumbs Café situated at the front of the College’s Old Mill Lane campus on Church Street.

Recommended donations to fill the bags include toothpaste, toothbrushes, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, wipes, tissues, plasters, soap/hand gel, lip balm, cotton buds, face cloth/sponge, torch, hairbrush/comb, makeup, perfume, hairbands/clips, gloves, scarf, notebook/pen, playing cards, purse, sunglasses, and jewellery.

Nicola said: “Donations to this appeal make such a difference to women affected by domestic violence.

“These are women who may have been forced to leave their entire livelihoods behind to seek safety, the impact of having a handbag of their own and a few luxury items is huge to them.

“I hope we will collect as much as possible in this year’s effort for the charity and I encourage everyone to pop in and donate what they can.”