Women's Centre Turns Ten!

The Nelson Women¹s Centre has a great reason to party - they are turning
ten. The Trafalgar Street house has been home to groups such as Rape Crisis
and Nelson Women¹s Support for a decade and to mark their tenth birthday on
Saturday they are opening their doors and filling their garden with art,
music, a barbecue and a book launch.

Coordinator Carrie Mozena says the anniversary is an important milestone in
the life of Te Whare Awhina Mo Nga Wahine Puawai or Œthe House of the
Blossoming Women¹.

³The Women¹s Centre is a key strand in the web of social services in
Nelson,² she said. ³The number of women using our services has been
increasingly steadily and we now see over 4000 women in a year. Their needs
range from emergency accommodation and issues of historic family violence,
through to just being new to Nelson, and wanting to connect with other women
in the Nelson community by volunteering or coming to a workshop.²

The 10 year celebration garden party on Saturday 9th December from 4 ­ 8pm
is open to everyone including male friends and supporters. It will feature
the Celtic music group Cairdre, the world music choir Mosaic and Green party
MP Sue Kedgley as the guest speaker. There will also be a launch of the
self-published ŒStories by Carers¹ facilitated by Nelson woman Mary-Lynn
Boyes. This is the result of twelve writers¹ sessions held at the Woman¹s
Centre earlier this year where the participants shared their stories on the
ups and downs of their caring roles.

Women in Nelson fundraised in 1995-96 to buy the house at 44 Trafalgar St
from the Nelson City Council as a drop-in centre for women in the Nelson
region. The groups using the house offer practical help on a wide range of
life issues, including parenting and custody, mental and physical health,
historic family violence, budgeting and emergency accommodation. The Women¹s
Centre runs courses and workshops, free cervical smear clinics, free
counselling for women on a wide range of issues including depression, life
direction, grief, trauma, rape and sexual abuse. In 2005 the Women¹s Centre
won the Trustpower Community Award in the health and wellbeing section.

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