Exeter Christadelphian church, COG + Refugee Support Devon
Pamper Pack Project
“I am truly moved and deeply appreciative of the generosity shown by you, the members of your church, and the COG charity through the outreach group. Your collective efforts have made a significant impact and have touched the lives of those in need.”
We have recently experienced an influx of refugees in Exeter from many parts of the world. Several of them have attended our church and many were young women who had left careers and families to escape the harsh regime preventing freedom for women in their country.
They, like us, were used to the little luxuries in life, shampoo that didn’t make their heads itch, and moisturiser to stop their skin drying out. The refugee hotels provide basic supplies but the women we met were feeling so homesick and missing the lives they had left behind.
We wanted to help by providing some packs of toiletries, which, although basic, are hopefully a reminder of normality. Having contacted the Charity - Refugee Support Devon, we were able to link in and find out how many women were staying in the hotel.
We worked out that for £10 we could source 6 products for everyday use. We wanted to help as many women as possible, not showing favouritism to those who had attended church. We put a small piece of paper in each bag to say where it had come from and that it was given with love.
We received a grant from COG (Christadelphian Outreach Group) for £400 and fund matched with donations from our church members. This meant we were able to provide 80 pamper packs.
We packed these at the hall and delivered them to the hotel in Exeter, they were picked up on a hotel trolley to be distributed by the Refugee Support Devon staff who know the residents well. Those we had met personally received supplies using the church collection.
There are still more women at the hotel and we were unable to provide supplies for all. We hope to fundraise for a male equivalent pamper pack and hopefully more supplies for the other women, in the New Year.
