A WOMEN’S social club in Basildon delivered several handmade hampers to their local women’s refuge.

Women’s World club, based in Lee Chapel South Community Centre, in The Knares, choose a local charity each year to do something special for. A collection box was displayed in the club last May and members donated various items from food to clothing for domestic abuse charity Changing Pathways.

Six hampers were made – three hampers with food items, one with toiletries, and the other with new goods and gifts to allow the women to wrap the items up and give them to each other and their children.

Brenda Heather, founder of the club said: “I was so overwhelmed by the generosity of the members. I would like thank the members and my team of 14 ladies who help me run Women’s World, as I couldn’t do it without them.

“We didn’t realise just how much these ladies benefit from clothing and other donations. Going there really opened my eyes up to how important these refuges are and how much the women and children in there need help.

“Some of the ladies have to flee their homes quickly without the chance to gather their things, which means they arrive at the refuge with next to nothing.”

A spokesman for Changing Pathways said: “It makes Christmas easier for the women here and takes some of the pressure off them.

“We rely heavily on the generosity of the public and with recent government cuts to funding, resulting in several refuge centres closing, we need the help now more than ever.”