It is as simple as filling a spare handbag with personal care items to make a woman feel special, and add a note or Christmas card, before dropping it at a collection point.

Personal care items can include items such as a toothbrush, soap, shampoo and conditioner, as well as sanitary items.

The initiative will help brighten the lives of homeless women, women at risk and women who have fled domestic violence.

Laurieton Commonwealth Bank manager Pauline Hoad said a lot of people don’t realise how many people are in need. 

“Working here at the bank you see people come in who just have nothing,” she said. 

“It’s a great way to help the community.

“A lot of the time people are forced to flee their home with nothing.”

Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams, speaking in Parliament on November 16, said it was such a great campaign.

“It is a grassroots campaign in which everybody in the community can participate and make a difference to the lives of women – importantly, those of women who are fleeing domestic violence, who have found themselves homeless and who often struggle to find the funds to buy essential items such as sanitary pads,” she said.

Collections points are at Bunnings Port Macquarie and the Commonwealth Bank branches at Port Macquarie, Wauchope and Laurieton.

The campaign runs until December 2.

Mrs Williams said the It's in the Bag initiative was simple to be part of.

“It is significant that this initiative happens just before Christmas,” she said.

“As women who are fleeing domestic violence head into the Christmas period, they often put other people before themselves.

“Often purchasing something for themselves, especially personal items, is the last thing women think about.”