For many years we were involved in the Women’s Refuge, as it was then known, and we revived that relationship in 2018 when the staff at the newly named Swindon Women’s Aid (SWA) trained us for a court monitoring project. We later met the High Sheriff Nicky Alberry at her Violence Against Women forum in Jan 2019, and on discovering she is the Chair of SWA, we agreed to expand our relationship so that we could mutually support each other in various projects, particularly their new Charity Shop in Swindon town centre.
The Swindon Club started to ensure all unwanted clothes, books, DVDs, and household items were taken to them, also spreading the word to a local businesswomen’s group, Ladies Who Latte, for additional support.
Support in 2019
In March 2019 we brought a quantity of bras, household linen and rucksacks that SWA had requested for clients. After the launch of the Charity shop we continued to make donations throughout 2019, bringing over 20 large bags of clothes, books, DVDs and household items for them to sell. We were supported by several donations from Marlborough Ladies Who Latte.
Railing Against Abuse
SWA gave assistance in setting up our Railing Against Abuse event in Nov 2019 as Nicky Alberry, now a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire, had several useful contacts at STEAM. Nicky and three of her staff joined us on the march through Swindon on November 25th and Nicky gave an eloquent speech on violence against women and the work of SWA at the Reception afterwards at STEAM.
Support through Lockdown
As 2020 started we continued with donations of clothes, books, DVDs etc. for the Charity shop, but as Lockdown started to impact the SWA funds we made a donation of £100 from Club funds to keep their work going. It was one of the few organisations providing a 24 hour Helpline, and we advertised this on our Club Facebook too. Once the shop re-opened we enlisted the help of friends, family and Ladies Who Latte to provide a dozen more bags between June and October, including one set of ladies who created an additional 7 trolley loads of clothes!!
We continue to gather donations from friends, family and local Networking groups, making nearly 11 deliveries alone in 2022, filling SWA shop trolleys and floors! During 2023 and early 2024 we made a total of seven deliveries of circa 35 large bags.
New SWA shop manager Kerry with members Jackie and Lydia Nov 2022
Member Jackie with our last delivery of 2023