SI Garstang Soroptimists Win Award for Purple Teardrop Campaign Work

Congratulations are in order for the members of Soroptimist International Garstang who have been awarded the Darwen Shield. The shield, donated by SI Darwen to SI North West England and the Isle of Man, is awarded annually to the club deemed to have made the greatest contribution to Soroptimist International’s programme objectives.

This year, the award was made to SI Garstang for their work in support of the Purple Teardrop Campaign. Members realised that one of the few places that trafficked women and girls had any chance of privacy or were unsupervised was in public toilets and that using the Purple Teardrop Campaign posters it was an ideal place to raise awareness and offer contact details for help.

The club sent a letter to Wyre Borough Council to ask for permission to display the posters in the town’s public toilets. The response was positive and contact details provided for DANFO the company contracted by the council to service and maintain the toilets. DANFO volunteered to frame and mount the posters and were also able to put the club in contact with other councils with similar arrangements.

So, congratulations SI Garstang for such brilliant work and for being awarded the Darwen Shield.