A legacy of love

An appeal set up to honour the memory of murdered backpacker Grace Millane is helping women in Marlborough.

The nationwide Love Grace Handbag Appeal helps victims of domestic abuse by collecting handbags containing essential items.

It’s an annual appeal that almost saw Marlborough miss out, says Volunteer Marlborough Manager Meg Martin.

She noticed the region was lacking a collection point and stepped in to help.

“The lovely Katie Phillips over at Herb and Olive originally volunteered to collect donations unofficially and take them to Nelson, but we asked further and found that whatever was donated in Nelson would be used in Nelson”, Meg says.

“We then requested to be an official donation site so Marlborough’s women in need would be benefitted directly by what gets donated here.

Grace’s fondness for handbags saw her family and friends create the initiative as a legacy in her name.

Meg says she has been blown away by the response in Marlborough so far.

“The list was broken up into essentials, nice-to-haves, and luxuries - but some donations have just included the whole list which is incredibly generous.

“Women that need the assistance have said that having everything they need instantly in a bag full of basic essentials to help them get back on their feet takes so much stress away at what is already a very hard time for them”.

“We’re obviously just a drop-off point, but I’m so glad to be involved.”

Women’s Refuge Marlborough manager Rachel Black says that while the appeal is in memory of Grace, it’s also a reminder that domestic violence against women happens all the time in New Zealand.

“Knowing that these bags are coming from the community with goodwill and kindness behind the donations means it’s so much more special for us to hand them out”, says Rachel.

“We have a generous group of donors, and a generous community overall here in Marlborough but sometimes we don’t have everything we want to supply women in need.

“We hope the bags give women in need a sense of support from the community, crucial supplies that help bring a sense of normality to their lives and a lovely bag they most definitely deserve.”

Donate bags and goods to:

Volunteer Marlborough - 1 Market Street, Blenheim Central (across from Biddy Kate’s). (Office hours: Monday - Friday, 9am - 3pm)

Havelock Charity Shop - 66 Main Road, Havelock (Monday - Saturday, 10am - 4pm)

97a Waikawa Road, Picton (care of Dahna O'Docherty)