Help in Handbags is a community project set up by Dr Hannah Barham-Brown, Dr Lucy Brooks, Dr Kirsten Sellick and Caroline Hunt. We started with a simple WhatsApp message about using unloved handbags and hotel toiletries to improve the lives of some less-fortunate ladies in Leeds.
By the end of one day we had a logo, a twitter account and a further fifteen keen volunteers, and by the end of one week Hannah had a house full of sanitary products and interviews with local press lined up! Since then we have grown and evolved, and have surpassed our 100th bag donated!
A month’s supply of sanitary products and toiletries lovingly packed and distributed in donated handbags
Help In Handbags is a collective effort officially partnered with Freedom 4 Girls, a wonderful organisation who distribute our ‘help in handbags’ to wherever they are needed in Leeds.
Some of the distributions go to projects supporting assylum seekers and refugees, and therefore we have since started making ‘towel-only’ bags to provide to this social demographic. We are also considering future moon-cup bags when we can ensure distribution will go to those with adequate facilities to use these safely and hygienically.
