Calls for food donations to Harrogate and Craven domestic abuse charity
New Beginnings are putting together Christmas hampers for the women they support
A Harrogate and Craven domestic abuse charity's asking for food donations to support survivors this Christmas.
New Beginnings charity in Harrogate and Craven are putting together hampers to make things easier for their service users.
It's as women and children struggle to make ends meet for the few years after escaping abuse.
Many survivors struggle financially as they have to leave their old lives behind to get away from their abusers, often leaving with very few possessions or money.
The charity want to make sure the women and their children can experience a normal Christmas without any financial guilt.
Lindsay Oliver, founder and domestic abuse survivor, said:
"When we look at the Christmas campaign this year; this year we're doing 31 hampers and last year we did 12. We're looking to support 90 individuals in total as our referrals have gone up so much in the last year.
"We've got people that have just come out of refuge this year. Women are supporting their families, likely to still be on benefits. 95% of survivors are subject to financial abuse and that is a very long term scenario to get yourself out of so we try our best to support them over Christmas.
"When you're in an abusive relationship, especially if you're doing something centred around the kids, anything other than the perpetrator being the centre of attention is when they start acting out and really making life for difficult for their partners. So being able to celebrate Christmas and having the freedom to celebrate it how they want to is a big thing for survivors."
Hundreds of gifts have already been donated to the charity to give out to the women and children and the charity are asking for food donations to be handed in before the 20 December.
It's so they can sort all the donations into hampers which are age appropriate for each family.
Anyone wanting to donate can do so by contacting enquiries@newbeginningspeersupport.com