Our soroptimists have been very generous this year in donating funds to the 3 domestic abuse charities we support: East Surrey Domestic Abuse Services (ESDAS) Reigate and Banstead Women’s Aid (RBWA) and True Honour . Some members expressed the view that it is also important for the families to receive gifts, especially at this time of year when they are often far away from the normality of family life.
One very new Soroptimist member, Tina, (possibly one of Santa’s elves in disguise!) decided that instead of giving the usual presents to work colleagues, she would organise a Secret Santa for ESDAS. Not only did she involved these colleagues but she also asked if any Soroptimists would like to donate presents and they did! Tina was able to collect a sizeable amount and they were collected by ESDAS. The items included books, socks, infusers, mugs, scarves and chocolate plus many more items.
RBWA placed a request on Facebook that they were in great need of presents for their families. They had created a wish list on Amazon and it was possible for our members to go onto the Amazon site and purchase these items. These items were similar to those donated to ESDAS and were sent to a special delivery location, as the whereabouts of the women’s refuge cannot be disclosed to the general public.
Some members from our Club have chosen not to send cards or gifts this year to friends and family but to donate money to the 3 charities instead.