Earlier this year Brightwell resident Amanda Hedley had the idea to hold a sale of pre loved clothes in the Village Hall to raise money for the renovations. Donations rolled in. Bags and more bags of quality items from wardrobes all over Brightwell arrived on Amanda ‘s doorstep. Such was the generosity that twelve enormous bags of clothes remained unsold after the event.
BSR took on the task of finding a home for them. With the help of our colleagues at Asylum Welcome we heard about two centres supporting refugees that would be pleased to receive the clothes .
On Wednesday June 17th BSR Trustee Jane Hawker and Alison Debney sorted through the bags and loaded up Jane’s car with women and children’s clothes. The following day Jane took them to a warehouse in Witney . Many of the items will be sent to Ukraine.
The second drop off was in Oxford. Once a month the Hillsong Church hosts an afternoon café at the Vue Cinema for male asylum seekers who live nearby. Donors of useful items are invited to bring them to the cinema in the morning. On Sunday 21st Jane and BSR founder member Helen Connor dropped off another car load there, this time of mens and boys’ clothes.
We intend to deliver the remaining few bags to the local Womens Refuge.
We were pleased to be able to make this donations during Refugee Week but it could not have happened without the generosity of Brightwell cum Sotwell residents willing to raid their wardrobes in aid of a good cause. Huge thanks to all those generous residents who donated their items,; you’ve not only contributed to the upkeep of the Village Hall but you ‘ve provided many refugees with good quality clothing that they could not otherwise afford.
