PEEBLESHIRE folk are being urged to dig out their handbags and donate this Christmas.

The group, called WomanKIND Clydesdale formed in November 2015 and ran the Handbags for Christmas campaign for the first time last year.

With the aim to offer support to individuals and families in need, members have also launched campaigns such as the Back to School Uniform Bank, the Bra Challenge and Crayons for Weans.

They are also fundraising to help finance these projects.

Organisers are hoping to beat last year’s donations, and are asking residents across Peeblesshire to wade through their wardrobes for any old handbags and accessories that can be donated.

Jan Currie, chairwoman for WomanKIND Clydesdale told the Peeblesshire News: “Last year, we made around 140 handbag gifts which we then gave to food banks, Healthy Valleys (a third sector organisation in Lanarkshire), shelter, Scottish refugee council and Scottish Migrant Aid.

“We had such positive feedback that we decided to run this project again. We have already made up 42 gifts with many more to do.”

The group is urging residents to give what they can this festive season.

Jan added: “We are running short of toiletries and if anyone is interested in supplying us with a useful toiletry item to help us that would be awesome.”

Items can be handed in to the Gillespie Centre in Biggar.

The organisation launched after a conversation in a pub with a group of like-minded women who were uncomfortable with the thought that families in the area were experiencing hardship especially. 

The premise of the group’s work is to do small acts of kindness to try and bring some happiness to people in the area. 

Many of the women who set up the group donated regularly to food banks and were aware of a sharp increase in new referrals, some of whom were children. 

At the time, they also wanted to do something to help the refugees who were arriving.

For more information on how to donate, visit www.womankind-clydesdale.org.uk or go to www.facebook.com/womankindcl/