The generosity of Brisbane locals will bring Christmas cheer to some of EPIC’s women in need.

Australian not-for-profit Share the Dignity coordinates ‘It’s in the Bag’, a Christmastime campaign reaching women who are homeless or have escaped situations of domestic violence. The campaign encourages community members to fill a preloved handbag with items that would make the women feel special.

To date, over 90,000 handbags have been donated in this year’s nationwide drive, an extraordinary response that exceeded the target of 50,000 donations.

Due to the overwhelming support of the campaign, a surplus of donated handbags have found some very deserving recipients at EPIC.

Share the Dignity volunteer Kylie Walton gathered a bundle of interview-appropriate handbags and offered them to EPIC’s job seekers. EPIC works with people with disability and for some of our participants having a bag that is suitable for interviews is not financially possible.

“When Kylie at Share the Dignity offered our participants some of the surplus handbags, we were so touched. We knew that many of the women we work with would be equally moved by the gesture and would no doubt get a huge confidence boost in their journey into employment,” said EPIC Social Media Officer Beck Watson.

“Our ladies are going to be over the moon,” said EPIC Employment Consultant Tracey Newman. “It’s so fantastic to see the generosity of the community and it’s difficult to describe just how much this will mean to our job seekers, who are often overcoming disadvantage and discrimination while striving to secure meaningful employment.”

100 handbags have been shared across five of EPIC’s Brisbane offices and will be given to participants in the lead up to Christmas.