Light yet strong, this smart day shopper is perfect for every occasion. Ideal for work, it’s big enough for your tablet or laptop and work documents, with plenty of extra space for everything else you might need to keep in a normal handbag. Take it on holiday as it’s splash-proof and perfect by the pool: pack it in your suitcase or fill it with magazines, kindle or children’s paraphernalia. The Charity Shopper is extremely smart, hard wearing and stylish. You can use it every day. The Charity Shopper costs just £15 and every one you buy will be supporting WOW by raising money to improve women’s health through research, training and education. See it at www.bidderscroft.com and bag some now for all the family. They also make great presents. So, if you and your friends are looking for a good new way to raise funds, you can buy these smart tote bags at a nice low wholesale price and sell them yourselves to benefit your own Charity - your childrens’ nursery, school, college or other local charity project. “Women of style are ditching the hessian for eco chic. These sleekly elegant charity bags fly off the stall as fun and funky fundraisers” For all enquiries or to order please contact 01684 592179 charlotte@bidderscroft.com Wellbeing of Women (WOW) is the charity arm of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Regent’s Park, London. BACKGROUND on THE CHARITY SHOPPER and CHARLOTTE CARVER The first limited edition tote in Charlotte Carver’s Bags for Charities range, The Charity Shopper was launched as the result of encouragement by a Friend of The Royal Marsden Hospital in London. ‘Why don’t you make a bag for your favourite charity, like Lulu Guinness has done for us?’ she asked. ‘We’re going to make £60,000 from our bag – and you could do the same for your favourite charity.’ Coming from a background of organising conferences and charity fairs, Charlotte realised she was ideally positioned to know what would sell, so she came up with the idea of a stylish and spacious bag which she called, quite simply, The Charity Shopper. That was the easy part; now she had to find out how to get it manufactured. Charlotte started by sketching a simple design, decided on the outer and inner fabrics, worked on the comfortable over-the-shoulder length handles, chose the font for her own label and registered the intellectual property rights. She made progress gradually, finding a fair trade factory, mugging up on the technicalities of design, pre-production and manufacturing, as well as import regulations. She got to grips with shipping and onward delivery from the import agent to her quiet corner of rural Worcestershire, where the large lorry got so stuck between the ‘car wash’ trees at the end of her drive that she had to take a wheelbarrow down to load up the first consignment and wheel it 70 yards back to her workroom! Now with her hands on the product, Charlotte began to market them (in packs of 25 bags) to Registered Charities, fundraising groups and retailers. She also sold them herself at charity gift fairs and online and they were instantly successful. Today Charlotte is proud to know that her Charity Shopper is on shoulders on high streets and on holidays helping WOW and other registered charities across the UK and as far afield as Italy. For fashionable fundraising committees, charity fair organisers, Registered Charities and their supporters, as well as smart retailers across the UK and Europe, there are generous trade discounts and own labels, if required. Charlotte is delighted to support the work of WOW, having organised conferences and courses for medics and child development professionals at The Royal Postgraduate Medical School at The Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital in London. www.wellbeingofwomen.org.uk The next WiRE Local Network meeting is on Thursday morning, May 16th at The Hilton Puckrup Hotel, near Tewkesbury, where guests are welcome. See www.wireuk.org Networks Worcs/Glos Borders page for full details. For more information contact Charlotte Carver on 01684 592179