27 October 2015

Volunteers needed to help renovate Hamilton family violence safe house

Waikato Women’s Refuge – Te Whakaruruhau is calling on the Hamilton community to lend a hand to help complete renovations on its sixth city safe house. The goal is to complete it before Christmas, ready to house another five women and up to ten children.

Completion of the organisation’s sixth safe house will increase the Refuge’s current accommodation numbers, and allow them to cater to a total of 75 women and children.

The organisation is asking tradespeople as well as non-skilled volunteers to help out during its Community Safe House Build project between 2-13 November.

“We’re very excited that Hamilton’s Mitre 10 Mega has come on board, donating all the building materials to complete the renovation. Now, we just need tradespeople as well as non-skilled, adult volunteers to muck in and help us renovate this safe house.

“Volunteering just a few hours of your time, along with others in our community, will make a lifetime of difference to the families being supported by our refuge,” says Roni Albert, Waikato Women’s Refuge CEO.

Terry Wilson, Managing Director of Mitre 10 Mega in Hamilton said once he and his team learned about the work of Waikato Women’s Refuge he wanted to do something significant to help.

“My team and I were recently introduced to the difficult, yet remarkable work of the Waikato Women’s Refuge. On top of providing education and support for women and children affected by family violence, their safe houses provide emergency services and accommodation.

“We felt that we could help with this renovation project. So we've rounded up our team, and our suppliers to donate $30,000 worth of building products,” Terry explained.

Waikato Women’s Refuge’s sixth safe house was moved to site last year. It was generously donated by Braemar Hospital and is the former Salvation Army's The Nest home.
Waikato Women’s Refuge is New Zealand’s largest refuge and the only refuge in the country that operates a 24/7 support service. In Hamilton city alone, its team assists between 85-100 women and their children every, single week.

Waikato Women’s Refuge CEO, Roni Albert, says, “The eighty five to one hundred women and children we assist each week are those who’ve been involved in police call-outs as a result of family violence. This number doesn’t include the women who walk off the street and into our offices asking for assistance on a daily basis.

“For many people in the Hamilton community, these statistics will come as a shock. But for our team at the refuge, this is a daily reality. We hope people in the community will see this renovation project as an easy way to contribute and make a difference,” she explains.

Roni says the violent murder of New Zealand woman Tara Brown at the hands of her partner on the Gold Coast last month should be a reminder to our local community that people need to take action and “just do something” when women and children need help.

“If you ever think a woman you know, a neighbour, or an acquaintance needs help to escape violence just do something. Don’t feel like you are over-reacting by calling police. You never know if or when that argument you’re hearing or push you’re seeing will turn into a life-threatening act. These women need people around them to take action,” says Roni.

Volunteers can sign up to work a half or full day (or more) on the Waikato Women’s Refuge Safe House Community Build Event from 2-13 November, Monday through Friday both weeks.

Volunteers can sign up for the Safe House Community Build by phoning Waikato Women’s Refuge on 07 855 1569 or online at www.roundingup.co.nz .

In addition to volunteer help, the Waikato Women’s Refuge also needs a range of new or lightly used donated items including: beds and bedroom furnishings, laundry machine, vacuum cleaners, all kitchen items, lounge furniture, bathroom furnishings, meeting room table, whiteboard, computers, TV, office furniture, printer and more.

Sitting alongside Mitre 10 Mega’s significant sponsorship, additional corporate sponsors of the Safe House Community Build include: AP Construction, Bob Grey Engineering, City Glass, CF Reese, Drymix Concrete Solutions, Dean & Jo Namana transport, Holah Homes, Huntly Joinery, James Hardie, Louise Feathers planning, Mark Lai surveying, NZME, Pan Media, PDC Fire Design, Porter Hire, Waste Management, Select Alarms, Thorn Architects, Richard Webbon Electrical, Tainui Development Unit and Versatile.

-ENDS-

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