As of today, 20th April, I am bringing back the original personalisation embroidery service for a limited time as a way to raise money for Women’s Aid, an incredible domestic abuse charity who offer life changing support to women across the UK where home is not a safe place.
In the last few weeks Women’s Aid have seen the number of domestic abuse cases rise due to the additional challenges the Coronavirus lockdown has brought to domestic abuse victims. In addition to this, a pioneering project run by Counting Dead Women have identified at least 16 domestic abuse related killings between 23 March and 12 April, including those of children.
Women’s Aid have just launched a #SupportSurvivors campaign, to help raise immediate funds. They are asking the public to donate to the charity in order to:
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Support women who are reaching out for the first time: For 70.3% of women who used Live Chat, this was the first time they had contacted Women’s Aid.
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Help women get the support they need: Due to a lack of funding, we urgently need your donations for this vital service to stay open.
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Give women a faster response at a critical time: There is currently a 23 minute average wait time for women wanting to chat.
It has always been important to me to give back to the world, and to consciously move out of ‘me’ and focus on ‘us’. Since the pandemic was announced, I’ve been reflecting on various ways I can further support others, and this is where I had the idea to bring back the embroidery service.
Since closing it in December, each week I receive an email from customers enquiring whether it is something that I offer, and whether I would consider bringing it back. It’s been really hard for me to say no and let people down, so that’s why it came to me that I could offer it for a limited time period and to help raise money for a cause that really needs our support at the moment.
I’ll be charging £25 for the embroidery service, and for every embroidered robe sold, that full £25 will be donated directly to @womens_aid (click here for more info). Each chat between a survivor and a Women’s Aid expert support worker costs roughly £5, so for each robe sold, together we’ll be helping five women in desperate need.
In addition, I’ll be doing all the embroidery and fulfilment myself to ensure that it is in line with the Government’s advice around lock down, and staying safe by social distancing.
